He looked at me like he wanted to speak. Kenneth was beside me. Connor looked at Kenneth, then back at me, and closed his mouth.

For once, he understood the value of silence.

Melinda moved away from him later. I heard it through someone else and didn’t ask questions. The child stayed protected, which was the only part of their story I cared about.

Children shouldn’t pay for the lies adults build before they’re old enough to understand language.

I kept my name. Sinclair. I kept my house. I kept my position at St. Jude’s. I kept the version of myself Connor had tried to recast as cold and broken and unlovable.

The funny thing about being called too ambitious is that ambition can become a spine when everything else gives way.