And as it moved through, it left behind, like a tide going out, one clear and solid thing.

One thought, standing alone on the wet sand of everything that had just been destroyed.

Nathan could not know that I had heard him.

Not yet.

Not until I was ready.

If I confronted him now — if I called back screaming, if I threw the ring at him, if I gave him the satisfaction and the warning of my rage — I would win nothing but the momentary relief of it, and I would lose everything that mattered.

He would simply adjust.