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Chapter 53

More days pass. There is still no sign of Matt. That is until one afternoon. He pulls into the driveway. A smile spread across his face. 

Momma walks to the door. We are expecting her to make him leave. Tell him to leave Momma. Tell him to leave and never come back. Tell him he is not welcome here. Tell him he doesn't live here anymore. But she doesn't. 

Momma throws her arms around him and kisses him. She tells him how much she loves him and he does the same. They apologize but they are only empty words. They don't love each other. If this is love then I don't want it. 

My eyes turn to Chloe. Is she seeing what we are seeing? Does she see the false apologies and false love? Her shoulders drop and begin to tremble as tears stream down her face. Momma guides Matt into the house. Her eyes meet Chloe's but she doesn't say anything. She leads him down the hallway to their room. Smiles spread across their faces. 

Chloe watches in horror as they shut the door behind them. She quietly walks to her room and slams the door shut behind her. I jump as the sound. 

Momma emotionally slapped Chloe in the face. We all knew it, but Momma didn't care. She never cared. She could have made him stay away forever this time. She could have shut the door in his face, but she didn't. She betrayed Chloe. Deeper than she had ever done before. She chose Matt over us, over Chloe. Who does that? Who chooses a man over their child? My mother.

For about a week Matt was good. He was on his best behavior. He was a different person. After the week was out, things returned to the way they were before. He was just a cruel and loud as ever. Momma shouldn't have let him come back. Why did she let him come back? Why?