The door pulsed as someone banged on it from the other side. I twisted the knob, hoping for a scolding from Jared, but instead I found Claire standing in front of me with a murderous expression.

A lump lodged in my throat as she shouldered past me. In one lithe movement, she climbed onto Beth’s chair and reached up into the duct. It took her longer to get the new wire installed than it had taken me to rip the old one out, but she replaced the vent quicker than I had removed it.

She walked to the door and stopped to look at the wire in my hands. Her hand blurred as she snatched it from me.

“If you do it again,” she eyed the vent and then whispered in my ear, “I’ll rip out your tongue.”

My tongue curled up inside my mouth as I tried to swallow. Claire leaned back to offer a disturbing sweet smile, and then left. I shut my door behind her and locked it, wrapping my arms around my middle. She terrified me.

The thought of Jared hearing my every movement made tears trickle from my eyes and down my cheeks. “I can’t do this,” I whispered. The sudden need to distance myself from that microphone became urgent, and I grabbed my coat and keys. If I was going to have any type of normalcy again, I would have to convince Cynthia.

“Mom?” I called, walking into the dining room.

“In the kitchen, Dear,” Cynthia called.

I watched her expression change to concern when she saw my puffy, wet eyes.

“What happened to your hand, Nina?” she said, noticing the make-shift wrap around my palm.

“I want you to talk to Jared, Mother.”

Her concern vanished and she returned to preparing her lunch. “I’m sorry, Nina. I can’t do that.”

“Then let me have my privacy.”

Cynthia seemed a bit uncomfortable with the topic, but she was never one to be intimidated. “That is between Jared and your father.”

“Daddy’s not here.”

She ignored me. “Jared and I talked for a very long time. If it helps, he argued with me at first. He was quite determined. But when I reminded him how hard it is for his mother, and how hard it will be for you, he couldn’t deny doing what is best for you. This is the easy part. You can’t begin to imagine how hard your life will be if you continue this ridiculous—”

“You have to try. You owe it to me to try,” I begged.

She clicked her tongue. “He won’t listen to me now, Nina. There are some things that you just can’t take back. Once you’ve made your case, you can’t argue the other side.”

“Mother….” I pursed my lips, but it was no use. The tears fell from my eyes.