Chapter 20 - Daniel’s work
Daniel spent almost two years trying to become a man who could hear:
No.
without turning it into abandonment.
His therapist’s description, not mine.
He told me later.
At first his apology focused on Karen.
“I was manipulated.”
True.
Incomplete.
Then:
“I was grieving.”
True.
Incomplete.
Then:
“I believed people who told me what I already feared.”
Closer.
Finally:
“I used your mother’s lie because it let me convert helplessness into blame.”
There.
June died.
Daniel could not fix it.
Blaming me gave him a job.
Judge.
Investigator.
Injured husband.
Anything except grieving father.
He said:
“I made you defend yourself while you were grieving too.”
Yes.
Then:
“When you kept denying it, I treated your anger as evidence you were hiding something.”
There.
Every defense became proof.
Impossible structure.
I asked:
“Why should I trust you again?”
He answered:
“You shouldn’t because I want you to. You should only if my behavior gives you a reason.”
Good.
May you like
We did not reconcile that night.
That was why his answer mattered.
