44 pages • 1 hour read
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Charlie’s mother leaves town. She went home after seeing Charlie and screamed at Wes, who stayed calm and let her go. Before she left, she damaged Wes’s manuscript and took Charlie’s suitcase. After her departure, Charlie wonders if his father always knew about his mother’s infidelity, and he wonders if Wes stayed with her out of loyalty or because he wanted to protect Charlie. Charlie’s mother goes back to her family, and they spoil her. Charlie knows that his mother has cut ties with him as well.
Charlie reads his father’s manuscript and really enjoys it. He is no longer jealous. Eliza does not tell the police anything, but they interrogate her for a long time because everyone realizes that she knows something. Her parents do not punish her. Eliza tells her mother that Laura’s accusations against her father were true and that Laura killed herself and her baby. The baby is described as a barnacle. Eliza believes that her mother betrayed Laura, and she tells her mother that she will tell her where Laura is if her mother tells people the truth. However, Eliza’s mother never does so. Eliza assures Charlie that her father will get his deserved punishment.