Liora’s POV
“Can I ask you something, Mom?”
I looked at Karl, who was still sitting beside me on the bed, his small hands resting together in his lap as he watched me with an uncertainty that immediately made me want to pull him closer. After everything he had told me tonight, I knew there was still something sitting heavily on his mind, and I waited without rushing him.
“Of course you can,” I said softly. “You can ask me anything.”
Karl hesitated, rubbing his thumb over one of his fingers before finally looking at me. “Why did you leave?”
The question hurt, but not because I didn't understand why he was asking it. He was seven. He had watched his parents' marriage fall apart only a few months ago, watched me leave, and then spent those months trying to understand what it meant. He de
