Elise lay awake long after midnight, her cheek pressed to the cool pillow. She was holding back tears, and her eyes were beginning to sting.

Even sleep had refused to come, though her body desperately needed rest, and as if the foetus she carried knew what was going on, it kicked endlessly, the intensity causing her cramps that did not exactly help her cause.

Struggling to hold the pain, she forced her eyes closed. But every time she tried, she heard Alejandro’s voice again, the hurt in it.

She turned onto her back, staring up at the ceiling. The quiet and emptiness of the room pressed heavily against her chest....