Chapter 28 Cost Of Survival

• Theo shifted Martha easily in his arms, her laughter still bright in the quiet morning. She clung to his neck, chattering about how long it felt since she’d seen him, how she missed her toys, her bed, her “castle.” He smiled faintly—barely there, but real—and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
• I stood in the doorway for a second longer, watching them, my chest tightening around a feeling I couldn’t quite name. Relief, maybe. Or exhaustion. Or just the strange ache that always came when Theo was near.
• Camilla’s gaze burned into the side of my face. I didn’t need to turn to know what she was thinking—that I was walking right back into the same storm I kept trying to escape. But I didn’t care. Not right now.