What was the best thing to do in this situation? I knew my family all too well—the same script every time something cracked in my life. Deny, deflect, defend the golden ones. My throat burned, but I wiped my eyes with the back of my sleeve anyway, the cotton rough against my swollen skin, smearing more mascara across my wrist.“Lila?” Dad called again.I swallowed hard, tasting salt and the faint vanilla that still clung to me. “I caught them cheating, Dad. Elias and Clara. Today.”He didn’t reach for me and just stood there with Mom still tucked against his side, both of them staring at me like I was the one who had walked in and ruined a perfectly good afternoon. The hallway clock ticked louder than it had any right to, each second stretching while the pie smell drifted from the kitchen, sweet and warm and completely fucking oblivious.“Did you make a scene?” he asked, voice flat.The question hit me square in the chest. No explosion, no shock, no “that bastard” or “my poor girl.”
Last Updated : 2026-04-16 Read more