I knelt down and I gathered all four of them to me, and I made a decision in that moment that I had been circling for two days.

I would not raise my children inside this.

Whatever the paper said, I would not let them grow up breathing this air.

Chapter 14 — A House at War

For two days our home was a war of silence.

Nicolas avoided me completely, taking his meals in his office and sleeping in the guest room.