Alina’s POV
“I have kept quiet for years,” my mom begins, her voice trembling, thin as glass. “Because I refused to disrespect my husband. I swallowed betrayal after betrayal and pretended it didn’t break me.” Her chin quivers. “But you—” she points at Susan, pain sharpening her tone— “you came into my home, sat with me, laughed with me, pretended to be my friend.”
Susan’s eyes drop, guilt already pooling there.
“You lied to me,” my mom’s voice shatters into a yell, raw and jagged. “You didn’t tell me you were his first love. You hid the relationship you had with my husband. I thought—” her breath stutters, “I thought I found a friend. Someone I could confide in. But all you did was snatch my happiness and tear my family apart!”
Tears spill down Susan’s cheeks, silent at first, then tr
