Is That Mom

Part 3 of Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Breaking the Silence

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Part 3:

The Family Secret

The living room was dark, the only light coming from the streetlamp outside, casting a faint glow through the window. Rain drummed softly against the glass, a rhythmic patter that filled the silence as Ethan and his grandmother sat across from each other. The air between them was thick with unspoken words, and the tension from their confrontation at dinner still hung heavy. Ethan’s heart pounded, a mix of anticipation and dread, as he waited for his grandmother to finally reveal what she had kept hidden for so long.

She sat in her armchair, hands clasped tightly in her lap, her eyes staring past Ethan as if she was looking at something only she could see. Ethan noticed how frail she seemed, her shoulders slumped, and her eyes tired, as if the weight of the secret she carried had aged her overnight. He had never seen her like this before, so vulnerable, and it made his anger waver, replaced momentarily by concern. But the need for answers overpowered everything else.

Ethan cleared his throat, breaking the silence. “You said you’d tell me everything,” he said, his voice steady but with an edge. “So tell me. What happened to Mom? What was she involved in?”

His grandmother flinched at his directness, but she didn’t look away. She took a deep breath, her hands trembling slightly, and for a moment, Ethan thought she might not be able to go through with it. But then she began to speak, her voice barely above a whisper, like she was afraid the walls might hear.

“It started a few months before she disappeared,” she said, her eyes flicking up to meet Ethan’s briefly before dropping back to her hands. “Your mother…she got involved with some people. People she thought she could trust. But they weren’t who they seemed to be.”

Ethan’s heart skipped a beat. “What kind of people?”

His grandmother hesitated, her mouth opening and closing as she struggled to find the right words. “They were dangerous, Ethan. They had…connections, power. Things your mother didn’t fully understand until it was too late.”

Ethan felt a chill run down his spine. The room seemed to grow colder, and he wrapped his arms around himself, trying to absorb what she was saying. “What were they involved in? Crime? Politics?”

“Something worse,” she said, her voice shaking. “They were part of a group, an organization that operated in the shadows. They had their hands in everything—illegal activities, blackmail, threats. Your mother got caught up in it because she…she thought she could help someone.”

Ethan leaned forward, his eyes wide. “Who? Who was she trying to help?”

There was a long pause, and for a moment, Ethan wasn’t sure she was going to answer. Then she sighed, a long, heavy sound that seemed to carry years of pain with it. “A friend,” she said finally. “Someone who was in trouble. She thought she could get them out, that she could do the right thing. But she didn’t realize how deep it went, how dangerous these people were. By the time she understood, it was too late.”

Ethan’s mind was spinning. His mother had always been the type to help others, to put herself at risk if she thought it was the right thing to do. But this…this was something else. “So she was trying to help someone, and these people…what, they threatened her?”

“They did more than threaten her,” his grandmother said, her voice hardening. “They made it clear that if she didn’t stop asking questions, if she didn’t stop trying to interfere, they would make her regret it. She tried to back off, but by then, they already had her in their sights. She was scared, Ethan. More scared than I’ve ever seen her.”