He smirked and said, “Careful there, useless. You’ve never been good at serving anything right.” This time, no one laughed. The word “useless” hung heavy in the air, startling everyone, including the children.
Before I could respond, my mother-in-law calmly placed her hand on the table. “Say it again,” she said softly, “and I’ll remind everyone what you tried to hide back in 1998.”