The words “He is now” echoed in my head like a gunshot.

For a moment, I forgot how to breathe.

Isabella stood in front of me—eyes red, chest rising too fast, hands trembling—but she didn’t back down. She looked at me like every piece of her was breaking, yet still she fought for that man inside the house. For the home she tried to build. For her daughter’s stability.

Our daughter.

A muscle jumped in my jaw as something inside me slowly… painfully… snapped back into ...