Chapter 4 - The House on Maple Street
Two weeks later, the moving truck was parked in the driveway of the Maple Street house.
The autumn wind whipped yellow leaves across the front lawn as two burly movers carried Nathan’s remaining boxes down the porch steps and loaded them into the back of a rented U-Haul.
Nathan stood near the edge of the driveway, his hands shoved into his jacket pockets, looking smaller and more defeated than I had ever seen him. His mother hadn't come with him; according to gossip filtering through the neighborhood, she had retreated to her country club apartment, refusing to speak to anyone, her social standing in Riverbend completely shattered by the whispers of an impending criminal trial.
I stood on the front porch, wrapped in a warm camel-colored coat, holding a mug of steaming black coffee.
Nathan walked slowly up the wooden steps, stopping two feet away from me. He looked at my hair—which I had finally gone to a professional salon to fix, cutting it into a sharp, asymmetrical bob that felt entirely like my own choice, for my own reflection.
“The house looks empty,” Nathan said quietly, his voice devoid of its usual arrogance.
“It was never really a home, Nathan,” I replied, taking a calm sip of my coffee. “It was just a stage set your mother built for you.”
He flinched, but he didn't argue. He looked down at the floorboards between us. “I’m sorry, Liv. For all of it. I was weak. I let her control everything because it was easier than fighting her.”
“Yes, you did,” I agreed without hesitation. “And now you get to live with the consequences of that choice.”
He nodded slowly, turning to walk back down the steps. He paused near the bottom, looking back over his shoulder one last time. “Will you ever... drop the charges against her?”
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“Tell your mother that if she ever comes within five miles of me, my studio, or my friends again, I will make sure she spends her golden years wearing an orange jumpsuit,” I said, my voice completely devoid of warmth. “Goodbye, Nathan.”
He didn't answer. He climbed into the cab of the U-Haul, started the engine, and drove down the street without looking back.
