Vincent POV
My mother never knocks. The door swung open, and her voice cut through the study before she even reached the desk.
“That woman is dangerous,” she said. “She used her bastard sons to get near your child.”
I didn’t look up from the patrol report. “You exaggerate.”
“I do not.” She stepped closer, eyes sharp. “She abandoned you once. She’ll destroy you again.”
Adam stirred inside me at the word "abandoned," but I kept my voice steady. “You mistake her quiet for schemes.”
“Quiet?” My mother snapped. “She parades those boys at the school gates, and Myra runs to them like strays. Do you know what the elders are whispering? Do you care how this looks?”
“I care about the sound of my daughter laughing,” I said. “That’s what I heard today.”
“That laugh will cost you more than you
