She looked at Diane and said, “If she hadn’t always been suspicious of me, I wouldn’t have panicked like that.”
Ryan’s head snapped up.
“No.”
Chelsea froze.
“No?”
“You don’t get to do that again.”
“I’m just saying—”
“You cheated on me, your phone exposed the hotel, and the first thing you did was accuse my mother of stalking you.”
Chelsea began crying harder.
Ryan did not move toward her.
“You made me stand up in front of everyone and humiliate her.”
“I didn’t make you do anything.”
The moment she said it, she seemed to realize how bad it sounded.
Ryan stared at her.
Diane looked down at her plate.
Chelsea tried to recover.
“I mean, you were protecting me.”
“From something you invented.”
“I was afraid I was losing you.”
“You were already lying to me.”
Chelsea reached for his hand.
Ryan pulled it away.
The waiter, who had been standing discreetly near the wall, lowered his eyes.
He had witnessed nearly everything: the accusation, Ryan’s demand, the folder, Chelsea’s scream when the video started.
That embarrassed Ryan more than I think he wanted anyone to know.
He had turned a private family dinner into a public judgment of his mother because Chelsea cried first.
Now every piece of evidence pointed in the opposite direction.
Ryan stood again.
This time, his chair barely made a sound.
He walked around the table and stopped beside Diane.
“Mom.”
She looked up.
“I’m sorry.”
Diane’s expression changed, but she did not immediately rescue him from the discomfort.
Ryan continued.
“I should have asked you what happened.
I should have listened when you said you didn’t know anything.
I had no right to speak to you like that.”
Diane nodded slowly.
“Thank you.”
Ryan looked ashamed.
“That’s all?”
“What do you want me to say?” she asked gently.
“You hurt me.
An apology doesn’t erase that in thirty seconds.”
He lowered his head.
“You’re right.”
Chelsea watched them from across the table.
Her face had gone strangely still.
For most of the evening, she had been able to determine who was guilty simply by deciding who should be accused.
That power was gone.
She picked up her purse.
“So I’m just supposed to sit here while everyone attacks me?”
Nobody answered immediately.
Finally Ryan said, “No one attacked you.”
Chelsea stared at him.
