I pretended to be shocked, my heart hammering cold and steady. This was the start I’d been waiting for. “How could you say that?” I cried. “You’d think differently if you knew him—if you knew why he’s not here!”

It was a warning, a small chance for him to pull back. But Ethan never could resist twisting the knife.

“If I knew him, I’d probably laugh harder,” he spat. “You’ve always been gullible. I’m the one who made you think you lost your own birthday money—and convinced Mom you were stealing her pain patches when she had canc3r!”

A strange satisfaction pulsed through me. He was destroying himself without realizing it. But I wanted him to go further.

“Maybe this is about your own insecurity,” I said coolly. “You can’t have kids, and now you’re lashing out because I do.”’