Skipped Thanksgiving Because of My Family's Favoritism novel · Chapter 22 of 24

Chapter 22: The Table

Felix's father stepped into the dining room with snow melting on his coat.

Nobody at the table breathed.

Daphne's mother had followed him in, one hand still on the door frame.

"Dad," Felix said. "What are you doing here?"

"Maxine messaged me last night."

Every head turned to her.

Maxine kept her eyes on her father's shoulder.

"I asked where Felix's doctor was," she said. "I asked three times. You were the only one who ever answered."

"I flew in this morning." His father looked down the long table. "I apologize for coming in without notice, in front of your families. I would not do it if it were not necessary."

"Sir, please sit," Daphne's mother said weakly.

"Thank you. I'll stand."

He took a folded paper from his coat.

"This is a letter from Felix's pediatrician, who has treated him since he was four. It states that he has never had a heart murmur, an arrhythmia or a procedure. It states that his last checkup in April was perfect."

He set it on the tablecloth beside the platter.

"Felix told Daphne in April that he had surgery scheduled. He didn't. He told you all that his family had abandoned him."

His voice shook for the first time.

"His mother is at home. She has cooked him a dinner every night since August, and every night she has put it in the refrigerator."

Felix had gone white.

"Dad, that isn't..."

"Do not say it isn't."

The father took out a second paper, a thin printed sheet with a clinic's name at the top.

"This is the note he gave you. It has the wrong phone number. It names a clinic that closed two years ago. I had a friend look it up this morning."

Ingrid made a small sound.

The father pulled out his phone and held it up.

"Last, I have a recording. The center released it, with my permission. I'd like you to hear it from my phone, in this room."

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