st room on the second floor, overlooking the manicured hedge maze rather than the Atlantic's relentless reminder of horizons.

al pain, but food remained impossible. The thought of chewing, of swallowing, of susta

thunder that shook the windowpanes. She watched lightning illuminate the maze, the hedges suddenly visib

or slammed, footsteps crunched through wet stone. Multiple footsteps, she

n to chest, the beige trench coat still her only armor. The doorknob rattled. The chair scraped. The key

ripping on the threshold. "What the hell is this? Two days of si

ng- regret, concern, memory of the girl he had married- and

d automatically, a reflex of their

sture of frustration she had once found humanizing. "The Met Bene

e only person whose calls he would take at any hour. Jace answered without

hed, a sound like gravel in water. "Exactly. A trust fund wife with no func

knees. The trench coat fabric

he room, the house, the wife listening. "She's handling the transit

ed through the speak

She'll adapt. They always do. A few days of discomfort, realization that survival without my infras

ched, populated by rain and his br

t a di

sed, had not believed herself capable of articulation. But they e

that might have been respect before it curdled into anger. He crossed the room in three strides, his heigh

"Is this performance art? Some

erfor

hinge, forcing her face upward. "You signed a prenuptial agreement that grants you nothing. L

uttons cold and hard. She shoved with all the force her depleted body could summon, an

can

und the doorframe for support. "I will. I don't

adual self-erasure. Wanted the child she had briefly believed might matter, the pregnancy alread

lance, stumbling backward, her arms flailing for purchase that wasn't there. Her world tilted, a dizzying arc of motion ending in a sickening impact. The sharp corner of the marble coffee table met her lower ba

his hand still extended from her push, saw his expression cycle through suspic

rench coat, blooming from her c

, dropping to his knees beside her, his hands hovering then

eon

isit, and felt the warmth leave her body in rhythmic pulses. The rain continued. The li