Esperanza stood right there in front of her parents, her brain going haywire like always, thoughts slamming into each other from every direction, piling up so fast she could barely breathe.
She'd been dead quiet for almost a full minute, long enough that her mom tilted her head and her dad's face slid from patient to straight-up curious.
"Mom, Dad—" She sucked in a deep breath. "I wanna stay with Aunt Jasmine and Uncle Corvine."
Voren's brow furrowed hard. He looked at her in that steady way he always did when shit didn't add up, like he had forever to puzzle it out. "Why the sudden change, Espe?"
She pressed her lips tight together. For a second she looked just like Seraphine. That same stubborn little mouth thing that screamed she was picking every word like it might explode.
"Grandma would ask questions." Her eyes flicked sideways before snapping back. "Espe cannot lie."
The whole room went dead silent.
