I turned to Mason, my voice clear and deliberate. "The funeral was Mason's idea. He said this was exactly the kind of send-off Hazel would've wanted."
After those words landed, the hall went so quiet you could hear nothing but the faint buzz of the livestream equipment.
Mason froze where he stood.
His eyes darted between my parents and the portrait. The face on it was so smothered with stickers and paint that no one could tell who it was anymore.
He swallowed hard. "That's not possible. Olivia, what kind of game are you playing now?"
My mom walked over to me, her face set hard. She raised a hand to my cheek and brushed her thumb across the slap mark that hadn't faded yet. "Who did this to you?"
I didn't answer.
But Mason flinched like the words had cut into him. He jerked back a ste
