Page 62 of Shattering

She softened, lowering her voice. "Go upstairs, Gray."

His gaze flicked to hers, uncertain.

"I'll be up in a few," she promised.

He hesitated for just a second before nodding stiffly. Then, without another word, he turned and took the stairs, his shoulders hunched like Atlas, bearing the unbearable weight of a world that was never meant to be his alone.

Cadi exhaled and turned toward the door, her stomach twisting as she looked through the peephole.

Mom.

Regan stood behind her, shifting on her feet, her shoulders hunched like she was bracing for something.

Cadi hesitated. Her mother's presence wasn't a surprise, but Regan?

Regan, who hadn't called.

Regan, who hadn't reached out—not since everything imploded.

Something hot and bitter rose in her chest.

Still, she unlocked the door and stepped back.

Eila entered first, moving with practiced ease despite the macular degeneration in one eye making her vision uneven. She carried a dish in both hands, the smell of baked lasagne wafting into the room. Without a word, she walked into the kitchen and set it down on the table.

Regan hesitated on the threshold, then stepped inside, her fingers curling around the strap of her bag. She was restless, uncomfortable. Her gaze flicked toward the stairs—toward where Gray had disappeared—and she swallowed hard.

Cadi stood as still as pebble in a stream.. She didn't hug them like she usually did. She didn't ask why they were here. She didn't even ask Regan to come in.

She let the silence press down on them, let it stretch long enough that Regan started to shift on her feet.

Finally, her stepsister broke. "Where's Gray?" she asked, her voice too high, too thin.

Her expression hardened into something Regan had never seen before—a flicker of rage that settled into ice. "Where do you think he is?" she bit out. "Maybe with Vanessa?"

Regan exhaled sharply, flinching like she'd been slapped. But Cadi wasn't done.

Regan still didn't seem to realize how furious she was. She sighed and muttered, "I asked you to confront him."

Cadi's temper snapped. Her mouth twisted into something cruel before she could stop it. "Oh, you asked me to confront him? How generous of you. After the damage was already done." sherepeated, voice thick with sarcasm. "Like I owed you that? Like it was your place to throw a bomb into my life?"

She took a step closer, her gaze searing. "You didn't just throw a bomb, Regan. You lit the spark that made my marriage implode."

Regan blinked, stunned. But Eila was watching Cadi with confusion, sensing the undercurrents shifting, thickening.

"What is going on?" Eila asked her gaze shifting between her daughters.

"Oh, I don't know, Mom," Cadi said, laughing bitterly. "Maybe I'm just upset that the people I trusted and loved betrayed me this way."

Eila's eyes widened slightly at the sharp edge in Cadi's voice. "Betrayed?" she echoed, frowning. "Cadi, what are you talking about?"

Regan finally seemed to register the sheer weight of Cadi's rage. "I didn't mean to—"

Cadi cut her off. "You didn't mean to what, Regan? Did you think stirring the pot would somehow help? That running to Gray and twisting my words would do anything but tear us apart?"

Regan opened her mouth, but Cadi wasn't done.

"Or was that the plan all along? Did you think he'd come running to you on the rebound, heartbroken and needing comfort?"

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