Now, I suggest you join your wife and daughter upstairs.

Alice will want to say good night to you both.”

After they disappeared upstairs, I leaned against the kitchen counter, allowing myself a moment of quiet triumph.

Phase one had gone exactly as planned—the shock, the denial, the realization that I was several steps ahead.

Now came the delicate part: establishing new boundaries while preserving what little relationship might be salvageable for Alice’s sake.

By the time Rebecca and Philip came back downstairs, I’d prepared tea and arranged three cups at the kitchen table—a deliberate choice.