“First thing tomorrow.

And if I’m right, Estella, you and your little charity case are out on the street.”

He turned and walked out, and the door slammed behind him, and the sound of it went through the room like something breaking.

Chapter 9 — The Ember

I lay in the sterile bed, my chest heaving with sobs I tried to keep silent so as not to wake the baby.

The nurse came over and lifted our son from the bassinet and laid him against my chest — warm, tiny, utterly innocent, his little fingers curling into my gown.