a barrier, but it couldn't block out the sounds from within. The murmur of their voices, Olivia's triumphant laughter, Noah' s soothing replies. Each sound was a fresh torment, a remi

his is enough," he said, his voice low. "Go back to your room and rest." It wasn't an apology, not even kindness. It was a command

idden her treasures. She pulled an old shoebox from the back of the closet. This was where she kept her dreams. The positive pregnancy test. A grainy ultrasound phot

es. Everything. The physical proof that her baby, her love, had ever existed. It was all gone. The world tilted, the air growing thin.

aching out to steady her as she swayed. "Ava," he said, his voice soft, as if speaking to a frightened animal. "What's wrong?"

" he said, his tone matter-of-fact, as if he were discussing the weather. "You can't have children anymore, Ava. It's not he

and pure, ignited in her chest. She scrambled to her feet and ran, pushing past him, heading straight for Olivia' s room. She burst through the door. Olivia was sitti

of the booties. "They' re so precious. A mother' s first gift to her child." She dangled it from her fingers. "It's a shame your child never got to

ched, not to hurt her, but to save the last remaining bootie. She was a whirlwind of grief and fury. Olivia, despite her

the eye, and slowly, deliberately, pulled it apart with her hands, ripping the delicate knitting thread b

ing scream. "My baby! She's trying to kill my baby!" Noah stormed into the room, his face a mask of fury. He saw Olivia on the floor, crying hysterically, and Ava standing over her, her hand

place, her fingers sifting through the warm ashes, searching for anything that was left. She found nothing but dust. Then

the crack of a whip. "No food or water until I say otherwise." As the guards dragged her away, Ava clutched the scraps of yarn in her fist, the last remnants of a