A Father's Secret, A Daughter's Pain

The silence that followed my outburst was deafening. Five pairs of eyes stared back at me, and I could feel the heat rising to my face – not from embarrassment but from pure, unadulterated rage.

"Don't look at me like that," I snapped, the words tearing from my throat. "You had no right to keep this from me. None of you did!"

Silas moved toward me carefully, like I was a wounded animal that might lash out. "Hazel, we thought—"

"You thought what?" I interrupted, my voice rising. "That I couldn't handle it? That I shouldn't be bothered with my own mother's care? She's all I have!"

The words hung in the air, and I instantly regretted them. I watched hurt flash across each of their faces, even Jaxon's usually impassive one. But I couldn't take it back now. The emotions churning inside me were too powerful, amplified by this damned heat.