Nicole’s glare was sharp enough to silence the corridor. She turned on Mia with fire in her eyes, her voice trembling with uncontrolled rage.
“If you can’t respect the woman who saved my son,” she said, each word cutting like sharp glass, “then you don’t belong here. I have never had a problem with you, Mia. I accepted you because Daniel chose you. I kept quiet when your ways annoyed me, when your rudeness grated on everyone around you. But right now, you are standing here, belittling the only reason he’s still breathing. That, I will not forgive.”
Mia’s face flushed, a bitter red creeping up her cheeks. Her lips parted as if to protest, but no words came. For the first time since Nicole had known her, Mia looked small, her usual smug confidence fractured by the sheer weight of Nicole’s
