"Oh… Stella, did you hear that? Your dad is back." Alicia said with excitement as she stood by the window, her smile blooming wide across her elegant face.
To anyone else, she appeared to be the perfect wife, thrilled to welcome her husband home.
But Stella wasn't fooled.
Under her mother's bright smile, she caught a hint of sadness and anger in her eyes, both carefully hidden behind her practiced charm.
'Mom, no wonder I never suspected a thing,' Stella thought, her fork pausing mid-air. 'You've been acting this whole time, pretending your marriage is perfect. But it isn't, is it?'
Stella sighs silently before pretending to be happy.
"Yay… Dad's finally home," Stella said aloud in her most dramatic, easy-go-happy tone.
She forced her lips into a grin that didn't quite reach her eyes, mirroring the way she'd seen her little nephew Oliver light up when he spotted his father.
Only Stella's version was dripping with sarcasm.
