However, just as she was reveling in her success, Adele, who was enjoying a mouthful of cake, suddenly blubbered and spat it out. Her mouth was smeared with cream and crumbs, and she burst into tears, crying.

"Not eating, too full!"

Adele suddenly became frantic, sobbing and insisting that she didn't want to eat, which caused Sadie to freeze. She felt a surge of panic rising inside her chest as her mind raced on what could be wrong.

"Goddamn it, I should have known not to feed her so much. But this bastard wouldn't say that unless I fed her cakes!" Sadie muttered to herself, gritting her teeth in frustration. She had come up with the idea of using food to coax Adele into speaking those few words she instructed her to say to Holden.

Worried that Holden might notice that something was off with Adele, Sadie reacted quickly the moment the child dissolved into sobs and raised her voice to drown out the crying. She held little Adele in her arms, wiping the cake and tears off her face, and said, “Alright, alright, you don't have to eat anymore. Mommy's here. Adele, be good."