He didn't lunge or raise his voice. Instead, it came low and even—the kind of voice that used to calm me, now slick and cold.
"Who were you talking to, Eliana?" His eyes studied me. "You sounded... upset."
I slid my phone into my bag. "Not anyone you know.”
His mouth twitched like he wanted to smile, but his eyes stayed sharp.
"Don't play games. You embarrassed yourself in there, and now you're sneaking calls in the hallway? You're not yourself. It doesn’t look good."
My arms crossed on instinct. “Doesn’t look good? Darren, didn’t you hear what your mother just said about our child?”
Janine gasped like a seasoned actress, pressing a hand to her chest. “Losing your baby has stripped you of sense, dear. Attacking me like a savage—shameful. You should be embarrassed. Couldn’t even carry Darren’s child to full term. Not like Sally.”
Her words cut through me like glass.
I narrowed my eyes. “And you should be embarrassed you raised your son with a brain like that.”
Her mask cracked. “You little—”
"Enough." Darren's voice snapped like a whip. The calm was gone, his eyes lit with anger now.