ake behind him. "Ivy, have you lost your mind

d resting on her own swollen belly--she was pregnant too, Ivy remembered, with her second c

y laughed

ters "dead weight," who'd suggested feeding

fierce voice cut through the tens

shaking but resolute, small fists raised as she planted herself in front of Ivy. A second late

front of her, alive. That was all

rms, unable to say anything at all. She just held them, trying to carve this momen

othing will touch you. The words she couldn'

. "Jake, your sisters are right. Go apologize." Then, turning to the girls, honey

planting herself directly in Maya's path, cutting straight to

had already begun--fifteen days until the apocalypse, ninete

d thousand dollars. In exchange, Adr

s voice stumbling. "Ivy...

re and gone in an instant. She'd waited years for this, and now Ivy was simply han

was small. "Are you

hand. "What happens to

"You're coming with me. Trus

won't break

Mom." Aria took her sister's

aughters--not even ten years old, with no idea what lay ahead-

h in tighter than s

augh. "You're about to give birth. Three kids, no money, no

. This is your only chance. Answer now, or I take you to court, the off

prepared for this version of

She was already reaching for the pa

d, just sign it! Then it'll ju

to his expression. She wasn't the woman he'd spent years learning to control anym