The laughter dies the second you step into the Daventry dining room.
Sabrina looks you over slowly. Then she lets out a small laugh.
“You actually wore that?”
Adrienne lifts her wineglass with a thin smile.
“Don’t be cruel. Maybe you thought trying harder would make you fit in.”
Priscilla barely hides her amusement.
“Some women marry into a family and elevate themselves. Others just… expose how out of place they are.”
Clifford lowers his newspaper, giving you one cold, assessing look.
“You’ve been a Daventry for three years. I would’ve thought by now you’d have learned how to conduct yourself like one.”
A few soft chuckles follow.
Then Jenson walks in.
For one brief second, the room changes. Priscilla immediately softens her expression.
“Jenson, darling. We were only teasing.”
“I know, Mom.”
His gaze shifts to you, already irritated.
“Why does everything with my family have to become such a big deal?”
Sabrina smirks behind her glass. Adrienne looks pleased. Clifford simply leans back in his chair, silent and watchful.
Jenson exhales sharply.
“They’re my family. They joke around. Dad’s just being honest. You know how they are.”
His voice turns colder.
“I’m getting really tired of walking into this house and feeling like I have to defend them from you.”
The room goes utterly still.
Five pairs of Daventry eyes settle on you.
Waiting.