Chapter 63

Ramon POV

Another head shake. The crying was starting to slow, but he still wouldn’t look at me.

“Is it about Mama?” I tried.

That got a reaction—a full-body flinch that told me I’d hit the target.

“You can tell me,” I assured him. “Whatever it is, I’m not going to be mad. I just want to understand so I can help.”

For a long moment, I didn’t think he was going to answer. Then, in a voice so small I almost didn’t hear it: “He was holding her.”

“Rivers?” I asked gently. “Is that what’s bothering you? That Mama was holding Rivers?”

Ollie nodded against my shoulder, and fresh tears started flowing. “He never holds other kids. Only me. He’s only ever held me.”

Understanding crashed over me. This wasn’t just jealousy—this was existential terror. In Ollie’s experience, Lake’s attention and affection were finite resources that had to be carefully guarded.

If Lake was holding another child, caring for another child, that meant less