August's POV

After everything that had happened, Isabelle returned home carrying an exhaustion that went far beyond the physical. Carl's latest attack had once again left her with that same sadness I'd seen on her face when we first reunited.

The next morning, she woke up beside me and followed every step of my routine with a distracted look. Even though she kept insisting that everything would be fine, Isabelle barely seemed to hear me.

She had a meeting with the lawyers first thing that