As Riley stepped into her apartment and closed the door behind her, a wave of emptiness crashed over her. The stillness of the room, once a sanctuary, now felt suffocating. She pressed her back against the door, her legs giving out as she slid to the floor. Her arms wrapped tightly around herself as if trying to hold together the pieces of her breaking heart.
She had known this day would come. From the moment Sam had entered their lives, Riley had prepared herself for the inevitable goodbye. But all the mental preparation in the world couldn’t shield her from the pain of seeing the child she had grown so fond of being taken away. The image of Sam’s tiny hand reaching out to her, her innocent eyes wide with confusion, was etched into her mind like an indelible scar.
Tears blurred her visi
