Adeline POV
The call came while I was grinding herbs for the afternoon tinctures. My phone buzzed against the counter with the insistent rhythm only schools use when they want a parent to respond immediately. I checked to be sure and I was. It was the twins's school's official line. I wiped my hands on a towel and picked it up, already preparing myself for a minor scuffle or a scraped knee.
The voice on the line was too stiff for either.
“Ms Adeline, your sons have been involved in a disciplinary incident. They have been accused of stealing a classmate’s figurine.”
For a moment, I simply stood there. The smell of crushed roots clung to my palms. A cold ripple moved down my spine, the kind that arrives when something is clearly wrong beneath the surface.
“Accused by whom?” I asked.
“T
