Chapter 42 Responding

• Time passes and Shania's calm disappears along with my mother's as time goes by without a response from the designer. My mother, who had closed all possible exits discreetly, has now opened the door to keep an eye on the designer who still hasn't arrived.
• My mother paces back and forth, and I leave the room because I can't stand sitting there staring into nothingness. Immediately, the two of them look at me with concern, and I shake my head, pretending not to know what they're thinking.
• "I'm not going to run away," I say, and they look at me with worry.