“And Lily, don’t forget to do our chores, either. Dad hates when the place is messy…”
“Dad will believe anything we say. So don’t even try to tell him or Mom about this.”
Daniel’s spine stiffened, his eyes widening.
Lily sniffed quietly and started gathering her crayons. She was giving up her space without even questioning it.
And that’s when I stepped out of the kitchen, Daniel right behind me.
“No. Lily can stay right where she is. You two can wait.”
“Sit down. All of you.”
I walked over to the shelf, pulled out the recorder, and pressed play.
The room filled with their voices from the previous day. When the recording stopped, Ava’s face was white, Sophie fidgeted with her sleeves, avoiding eye contact, and Daniel looked sick.
“Girls… is this… is this how you’ve been talking to Lily?”
