It is practiced.

And it is ongoing — the marks are fresh, some of them from last night.

Mother, this is happening in your house right now, tonight, and it will happen again tonight unless you stop it.” It was the word tonight that decided Inmaculada.

Whatever this was, she would not let it have one more night.

Chapter 5 — Not the Scandal

That was the question that changed everything for Inmaculada, and it changed it in an instant.

Until that morning, some small, cowardly part of her had been managing the problem as a matter of reputation — three sisters unwell, whispers to be contained, a house to be kept above rumor.