Ava arrived at the office the next morning to whispers. The kind that stopped when she walked by, only to pick up again the moment her heels clicked out of earshot.

She kept her chin high, ignoring the stares, the way people’s eyes darted between her and their phones. It didn’t take much imagination to guess what they were reading.

By the time she reached her desk, her inbox was flooded. Some were messages of thinly veiled curiosity, others attempts at “support,” but most were silence ...