Sophie ushered her uncle inside, head bowed, knowing she was in the wrong.
"I never imagined you'd keep something as big as quitting your job and moving out from me. How could you treat your uncle like a stranger?" Matthew stood in the living room, shaking his head as he spoke.
"Uncle, everything is my fault. Scold me all you want! But I swear it's not because I'm treating you like an outsider—I was just terrified of making you worry!"
"No matter what, you should have told me about something like this! Even if you were afraid I'd worry, you can't handle everything alone like this! How can you be so stubborn and disregard how your family feels? You've really gone too far, child!" Matthew's words and tone were unusually stern—this was the first time he had ever spoken to Sophie so harshly.
