Chapter 182

Harper POV

Harper wasn’t trying to spy. Not really.

She had just finished playing with her dolls and gone to look for Mommy, like she always did when she got bored or wanted attention or just needed to be close. But as she passed the hallway, she heard voices—Mommy and Aiden’s—and something about the tone made her stop.

She didn’t mean to linger. She just… did.

She crept closer to the door and peeked in the way she sometimes did when she wanted to hear grown-up conversations she wasn’t supposed to understand.

Mommy’s voice was soft, but serious.

“Anderson ruined me.”

Harper froze.

The word didn’t fully make sense, but she knew enough. “Ruined” wasn’t good. It wasn’t like a broken toy you could glue back together or juice spilled on the floor that you could wipe away. Ruined meant something worse. Something that stayed broken.

Aiden didn’t say anything.

That made it worse.

Harper’s fingers curled slightly agains