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My palms were sweaty as I opened the door and entered the living room. Mom was sitting with her back to me on the stool at our kitchen counter. Kaden was saying something to her but I was too nervous to understand a single word.

“Hello, Mother,” I croaked.

As if in slow motion, she turned around. I held my breath.

On that face, so unnaturally rigid after many visits to the plastic surgeon, was an expression of pure horror.

“Heavens, Crystal. Just look at you.” She sounded bewildered, as if she were seeing something extremely disgusting.

“What do you mean?” I looked down at myself, surprised.

“What did you do with your hair?” She continued, sliding off the stool. She rubbed her hands on her suit and stepped toward me, squinting. She took me by the chin and turned my head in both directions, then pulled on my streaked hair, sniffing. It took a lot of effort for me not to push her hand away.

“Now, really. I expected more of you.”

“I’m happy to see you, too, Mother,” I said, forcing out a smile.

She clicked her tongue and walked past me to the sofa.

I followed, keeping some distance. “To what do I owe the honor?” I asked.

She crossed her legs and set her Chanel flap bag on the couch beside her. She sniffed again as she surveyed the living room. Then she stroked her finely blown-out hair. “You didn’t respond to my call. Your father and I were worried.”

I laughed. It sounded more like a bark. “Oh, really?”

“Don’t be childish, Crystal.”

Every time she used that name, I flinched.

“We believe that your trip to this… thistownhas been long enough. It’s time to stop this ridiculous rebellion.”

My mind went blank. Did she honestly think I was planning to move back to Lincoln?

Kaden placed a cup of coffee in front of my mother on the living room table. His jaw looked tense, as if he were holding back from getting involved in our conversation.

“Look at you.” Her little finger extended, she took the cup without thanking Kaden, inspecting it first before she dare take a sip. “You are letting yourself go. How many pounds have you gained since you moved in here?”

I swallowed hard and suffered in silence as she let her icy glare travel over my body. And then she spied the sushi plate on the table.

“No wonder, with this junk you’re eating.”

Kaden made an indefinable sound. Mom looked at him with raised eyebrows, and I knew she was about to let her next attack fly. This time with Kaden as target. I interrupted.

“Did you come here to judge my life, or do you have any news?”

“Your father and I are expecting you home before Thanksgiving. Surely it’s not too much to ask, for our own daughter to take part in our annual benefit gala.”

It took all the strength I could muster not to snort with contempt. “I will not give up my studies just because you think that this isn’t the right path for me, Mother.”

She pursed her perfectly painted lips and tilted her head. “Eventually you’ll have to stop with this childish rebellion, Crystal. You have a legacy to be concerned about—like it or not.”

“I don’t know how often I need to repeat this, but I’m studying to become a teacher,” I declared.

“Oh, child. And I don’t know how often I need to repeat this, but you’ll have no future with that,” she said sharply, shaking her head. “You should be glad we’re paying your tuition.”

My fingernails dug into my palm, so tightly was I clenching my fists. “That’s the least you could do, after everything you made me do for you!” I hissed, not giving a damn that Kaden was standing right there and heard it all. I didn’t care. I wanted her to disappear.

“The least?” She scoffed, holding a manicured hand in front of her mouth. “You are so naïve, playing the victim when you know very well that—”