Just like that, she slipped out of my world.
The realization hit later, quietly, like the final echo of a door slamming shut behind someone who had no intention of ever returning. A sound you couldn’t undo. A sound that lingered.
---
The following morning, the private medical center was calm, discreet—the kind of place reserved for men whose names never appeared in police reports and women who never waited in lines. The air smelled faintly of antiseptic and fresh lilies.
Nina clung to my arm as if letting go might send her drifting.
“Zachary,” she murmured anxiously, fingers tightening. “Is the baby really alright?”
I kept my voice level, Don-steady. “The doctor confirmed it. No lasting effects from the estate incident.”
Her shoulders loosened. “Thank God. You’ve barely spoken since we arrived. I thought something was wrong.”
Something was.
Avery’s face wouldn’t leave my mind—the way she’d looked at me through smoke and chaos. No panic. No pleading. Just resignation. As if she already knew I wouldn’t choose her.
And the worst part?
She was right.
I hadn’t carried her out.
I’d carried Nina.
---