XANIYAH stared blankly at the floor. She knew it, she knew this was never going to work, and she was already beginning to accept her fate. Because it was fate, and fate happens, right?

But for Thalia, Thalia couldn't take it, she wouldn't, she pressed on.

“Mum! You haven’t even tried,” she said, her voice tinged with disbelief, her brows pinched in frustration.

Mrs. Howard turned slowly to face her daughter, sighing with a heaviness only a mother could carry.

“Thalia,” she began, ...