Allison stood silently in the garden, her face void of the usual prideful glare she always wore. Instead, there was shame, raw, unmasked and evident. Marion had called her out in front of the family, demanding to know why she had tried to manipulate things again, why she couldn’t just let him and Aliyah be happy.

“I was afraid of losing you,” she finally whispered, her voice fragile. “Afraid that if you chose her, there would be no place for me in your heart.”

Marion sighed, his ...