Some losses are mourned in silence, others buried alive, like love, trust, and the pieces of yourself you’ll never get back.

——

Lily’s POV

Three weeks had passed since I gave birth to my children, and still, I hadn't truly rested. Sleep was a ghost that haunted the edges of night but never stayed long.

The maids helped where they could, and without them, I would’ve broken, perhaps literally. But no one could take my place. Not in this. Not in motherhood.

Nothing had prepared me for the sheer exhaustion that came with it, the terrifying, beautiful burden of raising two fragile beings who depended on me for everything. Breathing...