“Dad told me to give this to you, if you ever ignored me again.” Beatrice looked down at the small red velvet box in the child’s hands, and then up at the child’s face, and her rigid, polished smile tightened at the corners.

She was not frightened yet.

She still believed, in that moment, that she held all the power in the room, as she always had.

“Well,” she said, with a soft, dismissive little sneer, loud enough for the table to hear.

“Isn’t that just wildly dramatic of you, little girl.”

Chapter 24 — Open It, Mom

That was when Caleb stood up from his seat.

He did not rush.