The Cost of Walking Away

Sylvie made it to the car before the tears came. Her hands shook. Her vision blurred. Her chest heaved with sobs she had held back for fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes of staying calm. Staying cold. Staying strong while her children begged. While Willa cried. While Jonah pleaded. While both of them looked at her with hope that cut her heart in two.

And she had said no. She had told them to wait f