I held Ethan tighter. “You used my money.”
Vivian’s expression hardened. “Family money.”
“It’s my emergency card.”
“And this is an emergency,” she said sweetly. “Do you know how humiliating it would be to cancel now?”
I looked at Mark. “Your son cannot breathe.”
His jaw trembled, but his mother’s hand landed on his shoulder.
“Postpartum hysteria,” Vivian said. “My cousin had it. She thought her baby was possessed.”
Mark swallowed. “Maybe we should all calm down.”
Something inside me went completely still.
They mistook my silence for weakness. They always had. Quiet Claire. Tired Claire. Wife Claire. The woman who wore soft sweaters and let insults slide across dinner tables.
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