Chapter 44

Leo’s POV

Mom cried a lot, even when she tried to hide it, I always saw. She thought she was being sneaky, shutting herself in her studio, playing sad music, but I heard. I saw her shoulders shaking. She was a mess again, like when Dad left the first time, like after they fought. I hated that.

Dad, he was always shouting, sometimes, not at me or Zoe, not always. But at Mom. He’d call her names, small ones at first, then bigger, “Stupid, lazy, worthless.” He’d tell her her art was a joke, that she’d never make any real money. He’d break things sometimes, not big things, just little ones, like a mug, but his face, it would get tight and red. Mom would just get quiet, really quiet, like she wasn’t even there.

Then, when Daniel came, Mom started to laugh more, real laughs, not the fake ones she used for people at galleries. She’d hum when she painted. She’d get excited about little things. Her eyes would sparkle. I saw it. Zoe mostly just saw Dad and her plan, b