The quiet answer nearly broke Elena’s heart.

“Then he will,” Margaret said.

When Mia finally sat at the head of the table, the other children looked at her differently. Not kindly — not yet. They looked at her as though she’d become powerful in a way they couldn’t name.

Vanessa leaned toward Richard and hissed, “Fix this.”

Margaret heard her. “There’s nothing to fix,” she said. “There’s only what comes next.”

Chapter 3 — What Comes Next

The party never recovered.