Chapter 7 - The Feast of Gluttony
The incredibly fragile, highly fake illusion of a peaceful, loving family reunion completely, entirely shattered the very exact moment the highly attentive waiters handed out the incredibly expensive, heavy leather menus.
My father loudly, incredibly arrogantly ordered the absolute most expensive, highly rare vintage wine the prestigious restaurant currently had available in their vast, highly renowned underground cellar.
He did not even bother to quickly glance at the staggering, multi-thousand dollar price tag before loudly, aggressively demanding three massive, full bottles to be immediately brought to the large table.
My mother repeatedly, incredibly loudly announced to the highly annoyed nearby tables that this magical, incredibly beautiful evening was entirely all about profound emotional healing and deep family forgiveness.
Julian aggressively, highly obnoxiously insisted on ordering an absolutely obscene, incredibly unnecessary amount of highly imported, incredibly expensive premium seafood for everyone at the table to share.
He specifically, loudly requested massive, towering iced platters of fresh, rare oysters, highly expensive imported Beluga caviar, and multiple giant, incredibly heavy Maine lobsters flown in that very morning.
My younger cousins giggled wildly and highly inappropriately while ordering highly expensive, incredibly complex artisanal cocktails as if they had suddenly, miraculously struck a massive, endless gold mine.
They loudly ordered prime, highly expensive cuts of imported Wagyu steak and demanded incredibly rich, highly decadent desserts completely covered in entirely unnecessary, highly expensive edible gold flakes.
For two straight, incredibly long, and highly agonizing hours, they ate aggressively and drank heavily like gluttonous, completely unrestrained royalty while actively, intentionally ignoring my quiet, highly observant silence.
My Aunt Beatriz began loudly telling highly embarrassing, completely fabricated, and deeply humiliating childhood stories about me heavily disguised as lighthearted, entirely innocent family jokes.
She repeatedly, loudly called me an overly emotional, deeply unstable, and highly stubborn child who absolutely always caused incredibly unnecessary, highly stressful drama for my perfectly normal parents.
My father proudly, highly arrogantly added that I desperately, fundamentally needed to finally learn how to properly, quietly respect the natural, deeply established hierarchy of the traditional family structure.
My mother aggressively, tightly squeezed my wrist under the table and darkly whispered that they were finally, graciously willing to completely forgive my terrible, highly selfish transgressions if I simply cooperated.
That was the exact, highly defining moment the heavy, highly confusing fog completely, entirely cleared from my tired eyes, and their true, highly malicious intentions became blatantly, absolutely obvious.
They absolutely did not want any genuine, heartfelt reconciliation or deep emotional healing after years of highly horrific, deeply traumatizing physical and psychological abuse.
They explicitly, entirely wanted my absolute, total, and completely unbroken submission to their highly twisted, deeply narcissistic, and incredibly abusive parental authority.
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They actively wanted to publicly, aggressively force me to pay an incredibly astronomical, highly ridiculous bill to definitively prove to the entire family that they still held immense, highly dominant power over my life.
They foolishly, incredibly arrogantly thought this pathetic, highly transparent dinner trap would completely break my spirit and make me tearfully sign over the massive estate out of sheer, overwhelming guilt.
