It had been another long day for Victoria, her mind still reeling from the aftermath of the chaos Daniel had caused. There were days when it felt like she couldn’t breathe, when the weight of everything seemed too much to bear.

Today, though, she had managed to keep herself busy—painting, working through her emotions, putting one foot in front of the other. Ethan had gone to school, and for a few hours, she had the house to herself, the quiet overwhelming yet strangely comforting. But when the doorbell rang that evening, she wasn’t prepared for what lay beyond it.

Zander stood there, his usual confident demeanor now tempered with a...