Chapter 44 - 45
ELODIE’S POV~
Liora was always a little wayward, headstrong like her father but she knew when not to push. Especially when it came to school.
That morning, she lay sprawled on her bed, the sheets tangled around her legs, her small face half-hidden in her pillow. “I know,” she muttered sullenly, voice heavy with sleep and irritation.
I stood by the door, waiting for her to move, to show even the smallest sign of effort. She didn’t. She just stared at me, her brows drawn in that stubborn little frown she got from Dante.
“Mom,” she mumbled after a while, “help me squeeze the toothpaste.”
There was no warmth in her voice, no soft edge like there used to be. Just that distant, careless tone that sliced through me in a way I couldn’t show.
I nodded quietly. “Hmm,” I said, my voice calm, because I couldn’t let her see how easily she could break me.
When I left for the bathroom to prepare her brush, I heard her phone buzz. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her pick it up, her lips twitching with a faint smile as she typed quickly. I didn’t need to ask who she was texting. I already knew. Sienna.
Her “Aunt Sienna.” The one she adored.
By the time I came back with her toothbrush, she had already set her phone down and was pretending to scroll through something else. I handed the brush to her wordlessly, then warmed a towel with hot water and wrung it out for her. I used to hum while doing this. Now the silence between us felt heavier than the air itself.
She brushed lazily, half-hearted, eyes drifting toward her phone every few seconds. When she finished, I asked softly, “What would you like to wear today?”
She pointed to the wardrobe without looking at me. “I’ll change myself, Mom. You can go.”