carbon monoxide detector was

nd the distant sound of carols, but inside, it was just cold. The building' s heating was faulty, a cheap fix that had failed o

dialed is not available.

her for. And their son, five-year-old Leo, was with them. Leo, who had once clung to her legs and called her the best cook in the world,

a framed photograph on her nightstand. It was her at twenty-two, beaming, her face flushed with victory as she held a heavy, prestigious culinary trophy. She wa

imple, bitter regret. I

dark

rp, primal hurt that shocked her back into consciousness. She gasped, her lungs burning, and the world came rushing ba

llen with pregnancy, and the pain was centered there, a relentless, c

almost there! Just

ered the cold, the silence, the photograph. But this pain was real, this room w

e subsided. A moment later, the sharp, w

ongratulations,

art pounding with a mixture of terror and disbelief. She knew this moment. She

l images. She saw Liam' s growing indifference, the nights she waited up for him, the culinary school acceptance letter she' d thrown away. She saw him introducing her to Chl

bench, his small face set in a stubborn frown as he ran to Chloe. Sh

. Tears streamed down her face, but they weren't tears of happiness. They w

g into fists at her sides. Not agai

and charismatic, his smile a well-practiced tool he used to get what he wanted. Brenda was a soci

sheveled hair and pale face with disapproval. She didn' t even glance

forehead. "Good job, Ava. I have a meeting I

but perhaps mild inconvenience. He didn' t offer to hold him. In her past life, Ava had begged

lifted the baby from Ava' s chest. "

er could. A wave of detachment washed over her. She felt a strange distance from this child, a protective wall her reborn mind had alre

aid, her voice flat and

ed surprised b

had taken Leo to the nursery, Liam returned. He sat in th

eling?" he aske

," Ava

tone as casual as if he were discussing the weather. "Brenda has arra

sting she wanted to do it all herself.

seemed to notice her lack of enthusiasm, her coldness.

ot as the man she loved, but as a self-centered stranger who valued statu

went back to his phone. The silen

d at the bag of things Ava needed to carry and made a small, irritate

have a conference call i

tiny, dismissive gesture, Ava' s last sliver of hope for this marriage died. It wasn' t just a loveless union; it was a cage. And this time, she was going to find