Chapter 26 26

• Liora stood in the empty hospital parking lot, her phone still trembling in her hand. Dashiell's voice echoed in her mind—that single, cold "Okay" in response to her pregnancy announcement. She had expected... what? Celebration? Relief? Some acknowledgment that their arrangement was finally over?
• Instead, she got nothing.
• Her hand moved instinctively to her still-flat stomach. A baby. Dashiell's baby. The words felt surreal even in the privacy of her own thoughts. She should feel victorious—she'd gotten what she needed to save Leander. But instead, a hollow ache settled in her chest.