"Mom." My voice was steady. "This is the last time I'll ever call you that. From here on out, you're on your own."
Leila couldn't meet my eyes.
I smiled bitterly at myself. What did it matter, saying all of this out loud? She didn't care. She never had. She had Nora, and that was enough.
Carter opened his mouth but said nothing.
The moment he wavered, Nora collapsed into his arms.
"Carter, I'm so dizzy... Am I dying?"
Leila's face went ashen, her voice sharp with panic. "Nora has a heart condition—she could have an episode at any moment! Get her out of here, now!"
"This new drug we've been developing targets exactly her type of congenital heart disease. Why do you think her father and I have been bending over backward to secure this partnership?"
"Nora is supposed to join the project team. She absolutely cannot have a setback right now."
In that instant, whatever sympathy had flickered in Carter's eyes vanished. He whipped around and glared at me with pure venom.
"Amanda, you knew damn well Nora was sick, and you deliberately provoked her. If anything happens to her, I will bury you. Do you understand me? I will make sure there's nothing left."