"No you wouldn't." Her mother looked at her directly. Warm and completely certain. "A woman who knows what she wants and knows how to get it and isn't embarrassed about either of those things, that is a woman who is never confused about where she stands."
She tilted her head.
"I raised you to never be confused about where you stand."
Soorin sat with that for a second longer than she wanted to.
"Your father," her mother said, and Soorin immediately picked her chopsticks back up as a defense mechanism, "the first time I tried this, he looked at me like I had suggested something from another planet."
"I don't need this part," Soorin said.
"He was so sure of himself back then. Broad shoulders, walked into every room like he'd already won."
"I've seen the photos. I really don't need the extended version."
