Chapter 10

Chapter 10

When I got home, Mom and Olivia Clark were washing fruit in the kitchen.

“Welcome back, Nina! Olivia bought these cherries today—they’re so sweet. Come try one,” Mom said happily when she saw me.

“Where is everyone else? Where’s my sister-in-law?” I asked.

“Your sister-in-law has been locked in her room all afternoon—I don’t know what’s wrong with her,” Mom replied.

I went upstairs to change clothes, then came back down.

“I’ll take some fruit to my sister-in-law!” I said, picking up the plate of cut fruit Olivia had just prepared and heading to Linda Brown’s room.

I didn’t knock— I just walked in. The bedroom was dark; the curtains were open, but the evening light made the room dim. Linda Brown was sitting alone at her dressing table, staring at her phone. Wads of used tissues—snotty and crumpled—were scattered all over the floor next to her chair.

She turned around, her eyes red from crying, and looked at me coldly.

“What are you doing here? Don’t you know how to knock before coming in?” she snapped.

Normally, she’d put on a fake friendly face when talking to me, but today she was clearly on edge.

I sat down on the bed and started eating the fruit casually.

“No wonder my brother likes her— that woman is definitely prettier than you,” I taunted.

“How do you know about that?” she gasped, her eyes wide with disbelief.

I didn’t answer her question. Instead, I dumped the fruit all over myself. The red dragon fruit juice stained my yellow dress.

Linda Brown stared at me, confused.

“Are you out of your mind? You’ve ruined the sheets!” she yelled.

I walked over and slapped her hard across the face.

She snapped back to her senses, stood up from her chair, and tried to hit me back. I took the opportunity to sit down on the floor and screamed, “Mom! Help!”