CHAPTER 2: THE NIGHT EVERYTHING BROKE
The front door slammed.
Brenda and Rachel were gone.
And for the first time that day, the house was quiet.
But it wasn’t peaceful.
It was fragile.
Maya’s hand slipped. The knife clattered onto the counter.
Marcus was at her side instantly.
“Hey—hey, I’ve got her,” he said gently, taking Lily from her arms.
The moment Lily left her grip, Maya broke.
Not loud.
Not dramatic.
Just… collapsed.
Marcus wrapped one arm around her while holding their daughter in the other. “You don’t have to do everything,” he whispered.
“I didn’t know what to do,” Maya said, her voice cracking. “She wouldn’t stop crying… and they just sat there… I thought if I kept moving—if I didn’t stop—”
“You don’t have to survive like that anymore.”
That night, Marcus didn’t sleep.
He sat beside Lily’s bed, checking her temperature every hour.
May you like
And every time she stirred, he made the same silent promise:
No one would ever make his family feel that small again.
