122

ADELINE

The rage comes in waves — sharp, hot, impossible to swallow. Audrey doesn’t even flinch. She sips her water like we’re talking about the weather, eyes locked on me like she’s measuring the exact second I’ll snap.

And suddenly, I’m not here anymore. I’m thirteen again, watching a younger Audrey scream because the housekeeper trampled her strawberry garden. She’d nearly burned the woman with