DAMIEN

The weight of her words hit me like a blow, sinking into my chest, freezing my breath in my throat. A part of me had suspected something terrible, some hidden pain she'd kept buried for so long, but never… never this. The pieces began to click into place—the agony that seemed to cling to her like a shadow, the haunted look in her eyes every time I looked into her eyes.

“My poor baby…” Her voice cracked, and I saw her fingers tremble as she pinched them together, as if trying to hold on to something long lost. Her jaw tightened, the strain of anger and grief pulling at...