Sumaya's hand instinctively went up to her cheek, her fingers grazing the tender skin where her stepfather's hand had struck her earlier that day. The pain still lingered, a dull ache beneath her touch, but she forced a smile anyway—one that didn't quite reach her eyes.
"It's nothing, Mom. Just a little accident at school," she lied, keeping her voice light as she flicked a quick glance at her father.
He continued eating, completely detached from the tension thickening in the room. It was as if he existed in a different world, one where he wasn't the reason behind the bruises she now tried to hide.
Sumaya knew better than to tell the truth. The argument with her mother this morning had made things painfully clear—her mother had made her choice. She wasn't leaving her father. For Sumaya, that meant one thing: she had to be cautious, survive, and bear it all in silence.
