SLOANE
The sound of my phone ringing tore me out of sleep.
I reached for it fast, my hand knocking against the wooden side table. The screen lit up my dark room. My heart jumped when I saw the name.
Juliet.
I sat up right away. The sheets slid down my chest. Cold air touched my skin. My eyes moved around the room on instinct. The bed beside me was empty. Adrian wasn’t here. Good. I didn’t know how I would explain this call to him. I didn’t even know how to explain it to myself.
I pressed the phone to my ear.
“Hello?”
There was a pause. Too long. I could hear breathing on the other end. Tight. Careful.
“Sloane,” Juliet said. Her voice was low. Flat. “There’s really nothing we can do. Mr. Nicolas… he wasn’t approved to adopt Mira.”
The words hit me hard. Not like a slap. Like someth
