Joanne hugged her without asking for a confession.
They stood together in the quiet kitchen until Melissa said she had to collect the children.
Chapter 8: Clara at the Clinic
Clara offered to drive Melissa to a counseling appointment when Grant could not leave work.
She arrived early with coffee and a cheerful determination to prove that her sister had support.
On the way, she joked about buying a better car after the payment arrived.
Melissa did not laugh.
Clara asked whether something was wrong.
Melissa said she was beginning to fear that the money was changing how everyone spoke about the pregnancy.
Clara insisted she had only been joking.
Melissa looked out the window and said that she needed someone to ask how she felt rather than how she would spend the payment.
Clara apologized.
At the clinic, the counselor asked Melissa whether she wanted her sister present.
Melissa said she would rather speak privately.
Clara waited in the lobby, surprised by how rejected she felt.
An hour later, Melissa returned looking tired but calmer.
Clara asked whether the appointment had gone well.
Melissa said the counselor had asked difficult questions and that she needed time to think.
Clara offered to take her to lunch.
Over soup, Melissa admitted that Charles had become impatient with her requests for clarification.
Clara said she had assumed wealthy families always handled complicated arrangements properly.
Melissa told her money could pay for experts without making every decision fair.
Clara stared at the spoon in her hand.
She remembered accusing Grant of jealousy and wondered whether she had helped silence questions her sister needed to hear.
She asked Melissa whether Grant had been cruel.
Melissa said he had been angry and frightened but had never threatened her physical safety.
Clara looked embarrassed.
“Then I should not have talked about him like he was your enemy,” she said.
Melissa told her that an apology would mean more if she spoke to Grant directly.
Clara said she would try.
The sisters left the restaurant and walked slowly through the parking lot.
Melissa asked Clara to stop taking sides at family gatherings.
Clara agreed, although she knew changing a habit would be harder than making a promise.
When they reached the car, she asked a final question.
“If you decide not to do this, would you want me to support that choice too?”
Melissa felt tears come suddenly.
“Yes,” she said.
Clara took her hand.
It was the first time the sisters had talked about the possibility of stopping without treating it as failure.
