CHAPTER 2: THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF SILENCE
CHAPTER 2: THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF SILENCE
Grant laughed.
Too quickly.
Too loudly.
"Are you seriously turning a birthday dinner into a performance?"
His mother nodded in approval.
"This is exactly what we meant about sensitivity."
His sister kept filming.
Still recording.
Still smiling.
Still believing they were capturing my downfall.
I leaned back in my chair.
For thirty-one days, I had done nothing.
No confrontation.
No accusations.
No emotional spirals they could label as instability.
Just silence.
And documentation.
Ava shifted uncomfortably.
"Maybe I should just—"
"Don’t," I said gently.
She stopped.
Not because I raised my voice.
Because I didn’t.
That was what frightened her.
Grant stepped closer to her chair.
"Take it off."
His tone sharpened.
For the first time, he sounded nervous.
Ava hesitated.
Then looked at me.
Almost pleading.
I tilted my head.
"You can," I said. "But I wouldn’t."
The room tightened.
His mother leaned forward.
"What is this supposed to mean?"
I finally opened the envelope.
Inside was a single document.
Stamped.
Signed.
Time-coded.
Grant’s eyes flicked to it.
Something in his expression changed.
May you like
Not confusion anymore.
Recognition.
