Dinner was a catastrophe.
In that clarification, the protagonist stops trying to fix the family and starts trying to survive it. That is the true arc of the genre: moving from "How do I make them love me?" to "How do I build a life without their approval?"
She hadn’t spoken to him for three years after that. Then her mother got sick. Then her mother died. Then Clara came home for the funeral and Arthur had stood by the grave, dry-eyed, and said, “She was always too soft. That’s what killed her.”
Dinner was a catastrophe.
In that clarification, the protagonist stops trying to fix the family and starts trying to survive it. That is the true arc of the genre: moving from "How do I make them love me?" to "How do I build a life without their approval?" Dinner was a catastrophe
She hadn’t spoken to him for three years after that. Then her mother got sick. Then her mother died. Then Clara came home for the funeral and Arthur had stood by the grave, dry-eyed, and said, “She was always too soft. That’s what killed her.” Dinner was a catastrophe