(Ruby's POV)
The morning after Nicholas gave me the necklace, I woke before everyone else.
The house was quiet. The kind of quiet that only comes at dawn, when the world is still holding its breath. The sun was just starting to rise, painting the sky in soft shades of pink and gold. I could hear the birds outside, the distant sound of the sea. A gull cried somewhere far away.
Elle was still asleep in her crib, her tiny chest rising and falling. Her lips were slightly parted. Her dark hair was spread across the pillow. She looked peaceful.
I lay there for a while, staring at the ceiling. The plaster was old, cracked in places. Workers would fix it eventually. Everything would get fixed eventually. That was something I had learned over the past year. Broken things could be mended. They just needed time and care and someone willing to do the work.
