“Strawberry banana.”
My stomach twisted instantly.
“What was in it?”
He looked down.
“I don’t know, maybe strawberries, bananas, honey…”
“And dairy?” I finished his sentence.
“It wasn’t serious at first.”
For a second, I honestly couldn’t process what I’d just heard.
Ava had a severe dairy allergy!
Everyone close to us knew that. Mark knew that.
“She drank dairy? You let our daughter drink dairy?” I whispered.
“I think so, but Lauren didn’t know,” Mark said quickly. “I never told her about the allergy. She was trying to be sweet.”
The room tilted.
Because suddenly everything made sense.
Everyone close to us knew that.
It wasn’t some mysterious medical emergency or random bad luck. It was all due to my husband’s carelessness, distraction, and selfishness.
“You forgot to check what she handed our daughter because you were too busy with your affair.”
Mark started crying then.
But they didn’t move me.
“The reaction must’ve started slowly,” he said shakily. “By the time the daycare realized what was happening, her throat had already started swelling.”
I covered my mouth as tears poured down my face.
But they didn’t move me.
Ava had trusted them completely. And neither paid enough attention.
Then another realization hit me.
The funeral.
How quickly Mark handled everything.
Every time I tried asking questions, he gently told me not to overwhelm myself.
At the time, I thought he was being protective and supportive.
Now I saw the truth.
Mark was trying to keep everything moving before anyone connected Lauren to that morning.
Before the truth reached me.
Another realization hit me.
I stared at him across the kitchen table.
“All along, you weren’t protecting me,” I whispered. “You were protecting yourself.”
From that night, Mark slept on the couch.
