She had told herself she would be strong for Chloe.

She had promised herself she would not frighten the child with her grief, that she would smile and be gentle and give her daughter a goodbye she could carry into the rest of her life without nightmares.

She had planned all of it, carefully, the way a person plans the things that matter most.

And then the door opened, and she saw her little girl standing there, taller than she remembered, older than she remembered, with those bright serious eyes, and every plan Elena had made dissolved at once.

Her composure, the composure she had guarded for five years against everything the system had thrown at her, simply shattered.