Chapter 5
When I knocked Tyler’s fork away, he shouted.
Not from pain.
From surprise.
The fork clattered onto the hardwood floor.
Buddy lunged toward the sound.
Daniel grabbed his collar.
“What the hell, Lauren?”
That was Patricia.
Not Daniel.
Daniel was already looking at me, reading my face.
He knew I would never frighten children at the table for nothing.
Megan said calmly, “Lauren, you’re scaring them.”
I turned to her.
“No. You are.”
Her lips parted.
Just slightly.
Not enough for anyone else.
Enough for me.
“Megan put something on that plate,” I said.
Patricia gasped like I had cursed in church.
“How dare you?”
Ethan began crying.
Tyler looked between his mother and the steak.
Daniel moved fast, placing himself between the children and Megan.
“Nobody touches it. Megan, don’t move.”
That was the first time Daniel said her name like a suspect.
Not his sister.
Not Patricia’s daughter.
A person who might have done harm.
Megan slowly stood.
“Daniel, you cannot be serious.”
“Sit down.”
“I did nothing.”
“Then sit down.”
She did not.
That was answer enough for him.
Buddy stretched his nose toward the tablecloth where a small drop of meat juice had fallen.
Daniel pulled him back, but not before Buddy licked the spot.
Megan’s face drained of color.
I saw it.
Daniel saw it.
Patricia saw it and finally stopped defending.
“What is going on?” she whispered.
Megan looked toward the kitchen.
Then the back door.
Daniel stepped into her path without touching her.
“Don’t.”
Tyler’s voice shook.
“Mom?”
Megan looked at him then.
For one second, her expression collapsed into something almost human.
Fear.
Regret.
Then she pulled it back behind anger.
“This family loves drama.”
“No,” I said.
“This family hides it.”
Patricia gripped the edge of the table.
“What does that mean?”
I looked at her.
“It means we need to talk about Emily.”
May you like
The name hit the room harder than the accusation.
Read the full story 👉 Lauren stopped Tyler from eating the steak, and one forbidden name made Patricia’s anger turn into fear.
