blood, the doctor's hollow words, "I'm so sorry, Mrs. Miller." The empty ache in my womb that never

d and unable to care for her child. He painted them as victims of the storm, homeless and helpless. He had appealed to my comp

t he was just a good man. I was a fool. I had welcomed the architects of my misery into my home, let them live off

he little girl, Chloe, was clinging to the base of our garden's retaining wall as the waves crashed around her. My house was on a cliff, well above the sur

mething!" Ethan's voic

lm, devoid of any emotion. It

ous life, I would have already been kicking off my shoes, getting re

nded, his voice rising. "She's

the kitchen. My heart was a block of ice in my chest. Every beat was a reminder of the l

lowing me. His little face was crumpled in a mask of confu

the normal panic of a child. It was something else. An aggressive, demanding quality that seemed too old for his nin

grabbing my hand. "We have

icion begin to form in my mind, a new layer of betrayal that