understand why this wasn’t funny.
Instead, he frowned.
“Emily, let’s not ruin the evening.”
I blinked.
“Dad, she pushed me into the pool.”
“Your sister was joking.”
“My shoulder—”
“You’ll be fine. Please, everyone is watching.”
For a moment, I couldn’t speak.
I’d spent my childhood watching him defend Vanessa whenever she behaved badly.
But this time, her actions had put my recovery at risk.
And he was still more concerned about appearances than my well-being.
Vanessa stepped closer.
She lowered her voice so only I could hear.
“You always have to make everything about yourself, don’t you?”
I looked at her.
Three months earlier, I’d survived a serious accident.
Now I was standing in wet clothes, struggling with pain, while my own sister mocked me.
There had been a time when I would have argued.
I would have demanded an apology.
I would have tried to convince Dad that
