Ava's Pov
By evening, the house felt warmer than usual.
Not temperature-wise.
Just alive.
Amanda was in the kitchen arguing with my mum about food proportions like she personally invented nutrition, while my mum kept insisting she'd survived long enough without Amanda monitoring every spoon of sugar she touched.
"You're treating me like I'm eighty," my mum complained.
"You almost collapsed two weeks ago."
"And now I'm sitting here perfectly fine."
Amanda pointed dramatically toward the counter.
"That's because of discipline."
"That's because of medication."
I stayed at the dining table trying not to laugh too loudly while working on my laptop.
"You're both stressful," I muttered.
Amanda looked at me immediately.
"See? Even she agrees with me."
"I absolutely did not."
My mum smiled slightly into her tea.
"You see why I prefer Ava?"
Amanda gasped.
"You people bully me in this house."
I shook my head and looked back at the screen again.
