No circumstance that excused it.

No request that I feel better.

She named the ugly true thing she had done and the ugly true reason she had done it, and let it sit there, naked, costing her the entire flattering story she had told herself about being a helpful mother.

That is what a real apology costs: the story you prefer about yourself.

Most people, most of the time, will pay almost anything before they will pay that.

My mother paid it, once, too late, and it did not fix what was broken.