the empty doorway. The words felt foreign, desperate. "Article seven, section th

d of legal jargon against the hurricane of his

hold, and a cold, mocking smile spread across his face. It was a terrifying sight. He walked

rously soft. "Did you forget whose

almost playful, but it felt like a brand of humiliation. "Do you really think that

could see how long your gambling-addict father

gs. That was her weakest point, the raw, exposed nerve he had always

wasn't just her husba

mocking smile faded, replaced by his usual mask of ind

choed through the cavernous apartment. The sound vibrated in her b

e wall to the cold marble floor. The beautiful anniversary di

all, wrapping her arms around herself, and wept for the

ift in a sea of silent grief, when the shri

as Jarett. A flicker of hope she couldn't e

or the phone, h

it up with t

hard to steady her voice. "Mom

d with the chaotic background noise of a hospital. "Averie! You

a fight... his heart... Oh, God, Averie, he had a

rayal, now this. The two pillars of her mis

. "He needs surgery, right now! But... bu

rom the floor, a new, cold terror replacing the grief. Sh

ilk dress. She just ran, her mind consumed by