After a family dinner, while I was cleaning up in the kitchen, my daughter-in-law leaned close and whispered, “You old witch, I only tolerate you because of my husband.” I laughed it off and replied, “Don’t worry, you won’t be seeing me anymore.” The very next day, I had the locks on the house changed and… – Reading Times

But deep down, I knew Jace saw everything. He understood the unspoken tension better than any of us.

Skyler’s voice sliced through the morning calm as she strode into the kitchen, already dressed and perfectly made up. She asked if I had seen her blue sweater.

At seventeen, she was a beautiful echo of her mother. She had high cheekbones, a sharp nose, and rich chestnut hair.

But her eyes were Phillip’s soft brown, which she had inherited straight from my late husband, George. I told her that I washed it yesterday and that it should be in her closet on the second shelf.

She snapped that she had already looked there, but then she softened as she caught herself. She apologized and explained that she was just late for her project group meeting.

I raised an eyebrow as I flipped a waffle and asked if she could believe it was a Saturday morning. She reminded me about her veterinary classes and the Treating Stray Animals Project.