Turns Out You Are Adopted

Dinner tonight was a bitter pill to swallow.

I’d spent the entire morning at the farmer's market and the afternoon hovering over a hot stove, prepping a spread that could feed a small army. My back ached, but I wanted everything to be perfect.

Across the table, my sister-in-law, Amber, flashed me a smile that didn't reach her eyes. Her voice was sugary, but the words were laced with venom. She started dropping hints about how "comfortable" I’d made myself, how I seemed to treat my childhood home like a free hotel every time I was on break from grad school.