Is that really what you want?” I sat perfectly still, my hands resting on the manila folder that held my daughter’s medical records and the custody filings, and I felt no rage and no triumph, only the clear, weightless calm of a mother who had woken all the way up.

Chapter 14 — The Wrong Question

“You’re still asking the wrong question, Luca,” I said, and my voice was quiet, and it cut through that room like something with an edge.

“You’re sitting here asking whether I want to ruin your mother’s health and your career.

You haven’t asked, once, how your daughter slept last night.”

He swallowed, his jaw working.

“She’s two years old, Jessi.