Vivian’s chin rose.
“Riley needed support.
Her fiancé’s family was meeting us.
Harper had Dylan’s family around her.
She was not alone.”
The sentence entered the room like a cold draft.
Harper felt Dylan move behind her, but she kept her eyes on her mother.
That had always been Vivian’s logic.
The child who appeared capable received less care because she could survive without it.
The child who demanded more became the center of every room.
Harper had been praised for being independent until independence became the excuse for neglecting her.
She remembered being sixteen and taking two buses home after a debate tournament because Vivian had forgotten to collect her.
Riley had wanted to go shopping.
She remembered paying her own university application fees while Vivian financed Riley’s pageant dresses.
She remembered the first time she gave her mother mortgage money.
Vivian had cried, hugged her, and called her the family’s blessing.
