Meanwhile back at the main household..
Nancy stared at her daughter and for a second—just a second—she looked like she might completely fall apart, but then it snapped. “No,” she said sharply. “No, she doesn’t know anything.”
Amelia didn’t answer straight away because she did know; she recognised that kind of quiet and that kind of absence, and it wasn’t confusion or hesitation, it was certainty, and certainty meant danger.
“She wouldn’t just leave,” Nancy continued, pacing now, her voice rising. “Not today. Not like this. She knows what today means.”
Amelia’s jaw tightened slightly. “Yes,” she said quietly. “That’s exactly why she left.”
Nancy stopped and turned slowly. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Amelia held her gaze. “It means she wasn’t confused,” she said. “She wasn’t emoti
