NICHOLAS POV

The morning light entered through the living room's huge windows, but it did not warm the cold space inside me.

I sank into the leather chair, drumming my fingers nervously on the arm.

The letter that had arrived the day before was still folded in my pocket, a silent weight I couldn’t shake.

Ava moved around the house like a ghost I couldn’t touch, her presence both a comfort and a torment.

She cared for the girls with a devotion that moved something in me I wasn’t ready to ...