I needed him more desperately than I had ever needed anyone—but not him, not the man. It was his name I needed, the status and shield it would provide me.
You are not your mother's daughter in the ways that matter most. You are your children's mother in all the ways that will heal both their future and your past.
He doesn’t know the strength it took to survive—how every breath I take feels like defiance in the face of a world that’s tried to crush me over and over again.
“I’m sorry, but I’m no hero,” I reply, my words cold as ice. “I wouldn’t risk my life for a stranger.” It’s a lie, but it’s a lie I need her to believe.