“No wonder you’re single,” Mia said, rolling her eyes. “No woman would put up with you.”

My fork stopped halfway to my mouth.

Across from me, my stepmother, Karen, burst out laughing so hard she nearly spilled her wine.

“She’s not wrong,” Karen said.

The two of them exchanged a look.

That look bothered me more than the insult itself.

They weren’t teasing.

They were enjoying it.

For years, I had trained myself not to react whenever my family pushed too far. I was always the reasonable one. The dependable one. The person expected to absorb everyone else’s problems without causing any of my own.

But that night, something inside me finally snapped.

Not loudly.

Quietly.

And maybe that was why neither of them realized how serious I was.

I carefully set down my fork.

“Must be nice living rent-free.”

Mia smirked.

I waited one beat.