Then she explained that Natalie had already chosen the second bedroom.
That detail made the threat real.
Her parents would take the main bedroom because they would call their age and past sacrifices a form of ownership.
Natalie and Kevin would claim the other room.
Sophia would be expected to squeeze herself into whatever remained of her own home.
That night, she drove to her parents’ house.
She parked at the curb rather than in the driveway.
The porch light was on.
Through the partly open den door, she heard her father speaking on the phone.
“She won’t refuse,” he said confidently. “She always complains at first, but eventually she does what’s right. That apartment belongs to the family anyway. She owes us.”
The words followed her all the way home.
