l announcements. Aria stood near the customs exit, a fixed, polite smile on her face, feeling completel

id open, and

ace. She looked delicate, almost fragile, as she pushed a luggage cart piled high with expens

seven, and Zoe

ie's across the crowded terminal. For a m

nstantly replaced by a look of profound, weary relief. Her li

toward Aria, her arms outstretched

as she forced herself to return the embrace. It was a stiff, aw

against Aria's ear. She whispered, so low that only Aria could

ver in a

like a mask of ice. She looked past Cassie to the two

voice thick with fake emotion.

er's coat and refused to speak. Zoe, smaller and bolder, simply

o sorry," she murmured to Aria. "The divorce... it's been

she said, her tone cool and business-like. She grabbed an empty luggage ca

d popped the trunk. While a porter helped load the luggage, Cassie settled the

a bubble of leather and strained silence. Th

elentless stream of airport traffic, expertly mer

nly sound was the hum of

air conditioning vent, her movements languid. "This is a nice c

es on the road.

He always said anything with four doors was a waste of an engine."

," Aria replied

e played on her lips. "It's so good to see you looking so well, Aria. Really.

ds tightened on the steering wheel, her knuckles turning white. The memory of he

lammed on

ing them both forward against their seatbelts. The tires

the children let o

ld fire she hadn't let herself feel all day. She stared

ighway," Aria said, her voice danger

crossed Cassie's face before she quickly masked it with a look o

ad and smoothly accelerated, merging bac

absolute, suffocating silence.