She laughed at something my sister-in-law said, like it was any other afternoon. Music buzzed low from a Bluetooth speaker. I heard kids’ voices, carefree and oblivious, from the other room.
“Why is my daughter outside?” I cleared my throat sharply. The room stilled. Carol didn’t flinch.
She just set her fork down, dabbed her lips with a napkin, and met my eyes without even pretending to be confused. “Ellie is not part of this family,” she said, like she was commenting on the weather. “This is an event for family and friends.”
The air left my lungs.
My stomach dropped, and it felt like the floor beneath me had disappeared. For a second, I just stood there, my jaw slack, trying to understand how she could say that… how anyone could mean that.
Sarah’s face flushed. She glanced at her plate, her voice barely audible. “We didn’t want to ruin Jason’s day with a fight…” Sarah said.
“Mark and I decided that we’d let Carol decide what she wanted to do…”
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