Guilt (unedited)*

By the time Mason got back to the house, Ava was already back from her supposed shopping with Maddie.

She was in the kitchen preparing dinner. From the way she looked at him, Mason could tell that she already knows.

"Hey..." she said as Mason walked past her and went to the refrigerator to himself a bottle of water.

"Hey," Mason responded not looking at her.

Ava abandoned the vegetables she was cutting, cleaned her hands with a napkin and went to where Mason was.

"Maddie told me what her mother said," Ava said in a low tone. Mason seemed like a ticking time bomb and she had to tread with caution.

"I'm sorry," she said for lack of a better thing to say.

Mason finished his water, and crumpled the can with his hand before he threw it into a trash can.

"Don't be. None of this has anything to do with you."

The whole atmosphere seemed tense Mason carried an air of anger with him as he entered the kitchen.