GIRL'S POV
I woke earlier than usual. Long before Emma or Grace arrived with breakfast or their usual offers to help me bathe. Today, I wanted to be ready before they came. To show them I could manage on my own. Maybe then they'd stop including bathing me in their daily routine.
Ever since that dinner when Mirael touched my bracelet, I haven’t gone back down to join the others at the table. Partly out of fear. But mostly out of embarrassment. I don’t belong there. I look completely out of place.
Thankfully, no one has forced me to return.
Just as I finished getting dressed, a knock sounded at the door. I sprang to my feet, eager to see their reactions. Emma and Grace would be proud to find me ready on my own for once. I hurried to open it, my smile wide.
But when the door swung open,
