Chapter 154
**Stephanie's Point of View**
The clattering of metal forks and knives hitting the fine china plates blended with the faint classical music in the background, but in my ears, it sounded loud and sharp, like a war drum announcing an approaching catastrophe. Interspersing this noise from time to time was the sound of Alexander's spontaneous, deep laughter as he and Dominic reminisced about shared teenage memories. I sat with a rigid back, faking calmness and indifference with every ounce of artificial stability and remaining strength within me.
I gripped the knife with tense fingers and chopped the small piece of vegetable on my plate into smaller and smaller pieces, repeating the movement hysterically without daring to lift my eyes a single inch from the boundaries of my plate.
