Amber felt her throat tighten. Even Iris, who barely knew her, had the decency to ask her preference. Yet the man she had spent three years married to had never bothered to notice she couldn't eat mangoes.
"No," Amber said softly, meeting Iris's innocent gaze. "I'm allergic to mangoes."
The room seemed to shift. Sonya's gaze sharpened, her calculating mind quickly piecing together the power dynamics at play. How was it that after three years of marriage, Amber's status in the Sawyer Family remained beneath that of an outsider? To Sonya, Amber was no longer even worth the pretense of respect.
Calvin, however, turned to Amber with an incredulous expression. "Since when are you allergic to mangoes?" he asked, his tone accusing.
Amber blinked at him, caught off guard by the disbelief in his voice. The words she longed to say burned on the tip of her tongue: "Since forever. But when have you ever cared enough to notice?"
"I've already cut it," Iris said hesitantly, holding up a plate of cake adorned with golden slices of mango. She looked genuinely remorseful, though unsure why.
"It's just a piece of cake," Calvin snapped, his frustration bubbling over. "Stop making a big deal out of nothing—it won't kill you."
Before Amber could respond, he picked up the plate and thrust it into her hands. The motion was forceful, almost dismissive, as though her allergy was a trivial inconvenience.
To Calvin, it was simple: Amber was trying to embarrass him. She had eaten the mango cakes he brought home for their anniversaries before—why make a fuss now?
Was it because Iris had cut this cake instead of him? Was Amber so petty, so jealous, that she would fabricate an excuse just to disrupt the moment?
The thought hardened Calvin's resolve. He didn't see the hurt flickering in Amber's eyes, nor did he notice the way her hands trembled as she held the plate.
"Miss Robert, I appreciate your kindness, but I can't eat the cake," Amber said firmly, refusing to take the plate Calvin was pressing into her hands.
Her refusal seemed to strike a nerve. Calvin's eyes narrowed and his jaw tightened. Without a word, he grabbed her wrist, forcefully placing the plate back into her hand. His grip was unrelenting, leaving her no choice but to hold it.