Chapter 108

• Haven sat in his car outside the old brick house, grasping the steering with white-knuckled pressure. The sun had started to set, casting a warm brilliant tone over the rural road, but its magnificence was lost on him. His heart hustled, and his thoughts ran wild as he gazed at the house that once spoke to everything he had built, a life, a family, a future. Now, it stood as a stark reminder of everything disintegrating around him. His wife, Alexis, was inside, alongside the man who had taken her from him, Matthew. He wasn’t sure if he could go through with what he was about to do, but he had to try.
• The ring of his phone startled him. Haven looked down at the screen and saw Vanessa's title streak over it. His ex. His person in the last few turbulent months. She had been there through it all, strangely, as if she were the only person who caught on. She had her reasons for making a difference to him, reasons she hadn’t completely clarified. Part of it, he knew, was of her unborn child. Part of it, in spite of the fact that, since Vanessa had reluctantly cared, even when they had separated. He took a deep breath and replied.
• "Hello," he said, his voice thick with stretch. "Are you there?"