Sophie blinked once, as if she hadn’t quite heard her correctly.
The silence between them stretched, thin and brittle, before it snapped.
“Your mother-in-law just insulted your sister,” she said, her voice rising a notch, sharp enough to cut through the quiet hum of the television. “And you couldn’t say anything?”
Ava didn’t shift. She didn’t rush to fill the space.
Her fingers moved slowly over the fabric of her dress again, smoothing a crease that wasn’t there, her gaze steady on Sophie’s face.
“She didn’t insult you,” Ava said after a moment, her tone even, almost gentle. “She corrected you.”
Sophie let out a small, disbelieving laugh.
“Corrected me?”
Ava tilted her head slightly.
“Why were you asking him where he went?”
The question landed softly, but it stayed there.
Sophie
