Page 44 of The Weight of Her Silence
Ava didn’t answer right away. She clicked through the search history, her stomach knotting tighter with each entry. Camille.
That name again. Attached to emails, calls, and even a hotel booking a few months ago.
“I think something’s happening. And I think Mom knows.”
Caleb rubbed his face. He looked younger than eleven just then—scared, like a kid trying to hold back tears.
“She doesn’t smile anymore.”
“No,” Ava said. “She doesn’t.”
She closed the laptop and looked at her little brother.
“We have to be careful. We don’t tell anyone yet.”
Caleb nodded.
“But what are we looking for?”
Ava picked up their mom’s journal again, flipping to the last page Lila had written on. It wasn’t filled with rage or questions.
It was soft.
Quiet.
A few lines written in delicate script.
“One day, they’ll know. Maybe not now, maybe not even soon. But one day, they’ll understand that I tried to protect them… even from me.”
Ava’s throat tightened.
She blinked hard.
They were losing her, weren’t they?
Before she could say it aloud, the sound came.
A thud.
A crash.
Then silence.
Ava and Caleb locked eyes. And then they ran.
Chapter 32
The Shattering
They found her on the kitchen floor. Lila lay crumpled beside the refrigerator, one hand outstretched as if she’d been reaching for something. Her skin looked too pale. Her eyes were half-lidded, breath shallow.
“Mom!”
Ava dropped to her knees, grabbing her hand.
“Mom, can you hear me?”
Caleb stood frozen in the doorway, his face drained of color.
