How could they bear news like this?
“Come back with me,” Ernest urged gently.
“Only for tonight.”
Hadley’s hands rose suddenly to her face as a sob tore from her throat.
“Ernest… it’s been an entire day… Eric must be—”
If he were conscious, nothing could have subdued him so easily. But if he had been unconscious, then he was defenseless. And worse still, could his weakened body endure such torment?
Ernest had already contemplated every scenario that could unfold.
However, until Eric’s whereabouts became known, their hands remained frustratingly tied.
Ernest reached out to steady Hadley’s trembling shoulders.
“Have faith in Eric. He is not someone who can be easily broken. Think of all the impossible situations he’s already survived.”
Life had dealt Eric one cruel hand after another.
Childhood had brought him nothing but torment at the hands of his own father, and when he’d finally broken free from that hell, traffickers had snatched him away to inflict fresh horrors. Death had reached for him repeatedly, coming within a heartbeat of claiming him.
“Yet he conquered every single ordeal…” Ernest spoke as much to convince himself as to comfort the woman beside him.
“This time will be no different, Hadley.”
Tears gathered in Hadley’s eyes like storm clouds, and she retreated into a silence so deep it seemed to echo with unspoken fears.
Eventually, they made their solemn journey back to the Flynn Mansion.
Before Nyla and Joy, they performed an elaborate charade of normalcy, carefully steering every conversation away from the crisis consuming their thoughts.
As evening shadows lengthened across the nursery, Hadley went through the familiar ritual of settling Joy into slumber.
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“Mommy.” Joy’s small fingers twisted in the blanket’s edge, her mouth forming a disappointed pout.
“Daddy didn’t visit me today.”
Joy adored her father, although when Eric was present, the child had never used that precious title for him.
“Daddy’s traveling for work,” Hadley delivered the carefully rehearsed explanation she and Ernest had constructed together.
“He’s working very hard to take care of us, and he’ll return in just a few days to spend time with you.”
“Okay.” Joy accepted this with the trusting simplicity of childhood.
“Then I’ll be patient.”
“You’re such a good girl.” Hadley bent to press a tender kiss against her daughter’s forehead.
“Sweet dreams, my love. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Mommy,” Joy whispered, her eyelids fluttering closed with drowsy compliance.
Once Joy had surrendered to peaceful dreams, Hadley retreated to her bedroom, only to find that rest remained stubbornly out of reach.
After a scalding shower that failed to wash away her anxiety, she threw herself onto the mattress and pressed her face deep into the pillow’s softness.
.
.
.