-- Alexander --

Grizelda avoided me like I was carrying a disease. Every morning she would enter the dining room just long enough to eat her breakfast, say hi to Leo, and leave before I could say hello. If I walked into the living room, she would make an excuse to leave. And if by some chance we were in the same room together, her eyes would hardly look in my direction for more than a second.

I let her do this to me. For now.

At least Leo did not know. He filled every silent moment with happy talks. Telling me about school, the books he was reading, his...