Samuel exhaled slowly. “Maybe this time it’s different,” he said.

He did not mean it as a declaration, only as an observation.

But the effect was immediate.

Sasha turned toward him, startled that he would even leave the door open. Nathan, hearing uncertainty in his father’s voice, stared at the dashboard as though the whole road had shifted.

Nothing visibly changed in the car.

Yet something had changed.

The family no longer felt anchored by Samuel’s calm. Now they were all drifting together.