Sebastian studied Cassie's profile for several seconds before speaking, his voice low with concern. "Are you truly ready to leave all this behind? If you want, I can help you fight for custody of your daughter. You don't have to do this alone."
His words carried a weight he rarely allowed anyone to hear. It cut him deeply to see her hollowed by exhaustion and heartbreak.
What tormented him most was the guilt. The years he wasn't there, the years she needed a friend and he simply wasn't beside her. Friendship was supposed to stand steady through both sunshine and storms. Yet in her darkest storms, he had never shown up.
Cassie sensed that guilt in him, but she didn't want to spiral into a conversation that would only twist the knife in both of them. Her head rested against the se
