Mark Walked Into His Own Kitchen and Found His Wif…

Susan and Barkley took the double. Alex sat in a single chair, and Joan and Karen, two of the aunts, had dragged chairs in from the dining room. The only empty seat was a chair pulled from my office, placed by itself to create a little space between me and all of them.

I could already tell it was a setup. As I closed the door behind me, Hannah looked up and said, “Come in, Mark, and sit down. We’re just talking about a few things, and we want to hear your thoughts.”

I thought to myself, of course they had something ready to spring on me, and I was supposed to sit in that chair like a man waiting for a verdict.

Instead, I grabbed one of the bar stools, turned it around, and sat facing all of them. I wanted to change the weight in the room. Sitting higher put distance between me and them, and it forced them to look up at me.

I stayed quiet, but I locked eyes with Hannah, letting her see exactly how angry I already was. She blushed when she realized what I was doing, but she could not hold my gaze. I slowly scanned the room.