“You know,” he said, leaning forward with unusual intensity, “I’ve been thinking about homeschooling Lily.”

Mia blinked. She wasn’t the only one.

Their friend Sarah raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

Ben nodded, passionate and persuasive. “The school system’s too rigid. It kills creativity. I want Lily to grow up chasing curiosity, not test scores. Imagine her learning through art and nature, not just memorizing worksheets.”

Mia sat frozen, watching her husband transform into a TED Talk speaker. Weeks ago, he’d been researching private schools with military-like discipline and ivy-league prep courses. Now he was talking about baking muffins as a math lesson and stargazing as science.

It was charming. Strange, but charming. He spoke with such conviction that everyone at the table nodded along, swept up in his vision.

Mia forced a smile and muttered, “That sounds… freeing.”

But something inside her shifted.

In the days that