Divorced parents
The city always smelled like rain and gasoline after dark. Sixteen-year-old Clara sat stiffly in the backseat of her mother’s black luxury car, her forehead pressed lightly against the cool window as towering buildings slid past in silver reflections. Neon signs glowed against the wet streets, people hurried beneath umbrellas, and somewhere far below the apartment towers, sirens echoed through the night. Her mother barely looked at her. “Your father should already be there,” Evelyn said while checking her phone. Her voice was smooth and polished, the same voice she used during business calls and charity events. “I told him six o’clock.” Clara quietly nodded. Evelyn Hart lived in one of the richest parts of the city. She owned galleries, invested in companies Clara barely understood, and wore expensive coats even when she claimed she was “dressed casually.” Everything around her mother was sleek, modern, and controlled. Everything around her father was not. The car finally slowed near a
About Divorced parents
The city always smelled like rain and gasoline after dark. Sixteen-year-old Clara sat stiffly in the backseat of her mother’s black luxury car, her forehead pressed lightly against the cool window as towering buildings slid past in silver reflections. Neon signs glowed against the wet streets, people hurried beneath umbrellas, and somewhere far ...Read more