via

ear l

ite linen curtains of the nursery. I stood

delicate slope, and, unfortunately,

ising and falling in a steady rhythm that

a property my mother had quietly acquired through a shell

de world, Olivia Sterling was a reclus

cent of warm milk and baby powder. He stirred,

Bright, pierci

love,"

arding than anything I had ever done. I had found myself here, in the quiet

unlight spilled across the hardwood floors. My m

a soft smile touching her li

elf a cup of coffee. "Any news?"

ifted, curling into something sha

led for bankruptcy th

of satisfaction, but it was distant. Li

rena?"

'for richer or poorer' didn't apply when the credit cards started getting declined. Sh

halfway to my

g Finn gently. "It wasn't Michael's. It belonged to her p

to laugh. It was a dry, humorless

erything for a

Elizabeth said, sm

artment in New York City, Michael Hayes

regret. He held a crumpled magazine in his hand. Serena's face was on th

r her. He had destroyed his m

he t

n the table. The divorce decre

grimy sofa. The image of Olivia haunted him. Her smile

diamond to pick up a

the window. It was raining

the baby died. The pain in his chest was constant

ispered to the empty room. "If I

. He was a pariah. He was b

porch. The sun was setting, painting the

shielding him fro

whispered into his sof

. I didn't need his m

om the ashes he left beh