Chapter 80

The days began to fall into a rhythm I hadn’t felt in a long time. Therapy twice a week, pills in the morning and night, Daisy bouncing into the house after school with a backpack that seemed heavier every day. It wasn’t perfect—nothing about me was suddenly cured—but it was something steady, something I could lean on.

Each morning started the same. Benjamin’s alarm went off first, but he never let it ring too long. He’d silence it with a quick swipe, then lean over and press a kiss to my forehead. Sometimes I was awake, sometimes not, but I always felt it. His presence was like a thread I could hold onto before the day started pulling me apart.

After that, Daisy’s voice would echo down the hallway. She never needed much encouragement now. School had lit a fire in her. She’d come rushing into our room, climbing onto the bed with her curls sticking out in every direction.

“Mommy, guess what we’re doing today?” she’d ask, her eyes wide with excitement.

Every da