Heartbreak and a Hollowed Home

is voice shaking with a confusion he couldn't hide.

f as much as her. He was retreating int

egan to carefully scoop the gray dust from the floor with her bare hands. Th

pathetic thing I've ever seen. Is that dirt? Are you really this desperate

had shrunk to this small patch of floo

, and then she kicked at the pile of ashes. The gray dust scattered across the floor,

, a sharp, stabbing reminder of her injury, and she collapsed onto

inside her. The dam of her restraint shattere

raw and inhuman. Tears streamed down her

cried, the words tumbling out between gasps. "I worked until I couldn't stand up. I sold my mo

d, and I wasn't there because I was scrubbing someone else's toilet to pay

ford a proper urn," she whispered, her voice cracking. "They gave me his ashes i

nd of a child's laughter. It was all she had ever wanted. She had supported Mark's ambition

our whole life a joke? Was my son's life just an inconvenienc

as your son, too, Mark. He deserved better.

of denial. His face went pale. His eyes darted from Sarah' s anguishe

he sank to the floor, his body trembling. He stared at the mess

come on," she said, her voice sharp and impatient. "Don't listen

ked at her as if seeing her for the first time. "Get ou