He had been getting me ready.

Chapter 4 — The Reading of the Will

At the funeral my family wore expensive black and grieved beautifully, and I mean that as the precise accusation it is.

My mother dabbed at dry eyes.

My father shook hands with a somber dignity he had not earned.

Chloe wept, but only when there was someone positioned to see her do it — I watched her face reset to boredom the instant a mourner turned away, the way an actor drops a look the moment the camera leaves.