Especially Mark.
“She drank dairy?” I whispered.
“She didn’t know!” he cried desperately. “Lauren didn’t know about the allergy!”
But he did.
He knew.
And because he was too distracted managing an affair and two separate lives, he never checked the drink before handing it to our daughter.
The room tilted around me.
Ava trusted them.
Trusted him.
And his carelessness killed her.
Then another realization slammed into me.
The funeral.
The rushed paperwork.
The way he kept telling me not to overwhelm myself with questions.
I thought he was protecting my grief.
He was protecting his lies before anyone connected Lauren to that morning.
I drove to the café myself the next day.
