he door, Corinne sudden

ia. She ran past them, out onto the apartment's terrace. "I'm just making

he had climbed onto the rail

He sprinted after her, grabbing her around

t Clara's over Kane's shoulder. The look in them was not o

to cement her role as the fragile victim and Clar

lamped a hand over her mouth and fled. She ran out of the apartment, past a stunned doorman, her mind

s of New York. Rain began to fall, smearing the city lights into a blurry, i

to the side of the road. She threw open the car door and vomited

f outside her mother's brownstone in Brooklyn.

ood there in her bathrobe, her face etched

apsed onto the familiar floral sofa, soaked to the bo

roth. Clara took one sip and immediately

ry to a sharp, focused concern. Her

ice soft and careful. "Wh

h the stress of the last few months, the constant fighting

n her gut. "No," she whispered, s

back with a small, rectangular box. She presse

toilet lid, the plastic stick resting on the counter. Outside, a clap of thunder rattled the old win

ink l

haking with a new kind of terror. This wasn't a miracle. It was a curse. She was

saw the test, then her daughter's crumpl

fierce and protective. "You know what he'll do,

, silent flood. But through the despair, a new, primal insti

she whispered, her voice h

hes, Clara's phone, which she'd left on the

My lawyer's of