"A real family?"
The words escaped Nina's lips with a short, dry breath that barely stirred her chest. Her fingers remained motionless on the leather strap of her bag, as if even that small movement might betray too much.
She leaned back slightly against the hard edge of the exit door, her eyes fixed entirely on the spot where Lydia's manicured fingers dug into Adrian's sleeve… a possessive gesture Nina knew all too well.
"I don't remember when we have ever been one, Lydia," Nina said, her voice dropping into that quiet, chillingly level register she had used during the table read. Each word felt like ice forming on her tongue. "And more than that... I don't remember ever having a sister like you."
