Chapter 15: What Lucy Wants

The trouble began with something small enough to ignore and dangerous enough to matter.

During her evaluation, Lucy says she wants both parents but never wants Mommy to become quiet again. The simple answer unsettles everyone.

Claire understood that the next choice would be remembered long after the explanation. Nothing between them was simple now. Attraction lived beside anger; tenderness stood beside evidence. Every kind act raised the same dangerous question: was this change, or merely fear wearing a better suit?

Claire realizes reconciliation would be dangerous unless Adrian changes for himself, not merely to restore the old arrangement.

"I love Daddy. I love you loud."

The moment did not repair what came before. It did, however, alter what might come after.

The evaluator asks Claire whether she is still in love with her husband.