All Chapters of Shadows in Arms : Chapter 31 - Chapter 34

"You need to get out of bed."Lily stood in my bedroom doorway three days after the courthouse disaster, holding coffee and looking like she had been fighting her own battles. Dark circles under her eyes, exhaustion in every line of her face, but still here. Still trying to save me from myself."I am fine in bed. Bed is safe." My voice was muffled by pillows. "The world out there wants to destroy me.""The world does not care about you enough to destroy you. But you are doing a pretty good job of it yourself." She set the coffee on my nightstand with deliberate force. "Ethan is being discharged today. He needs you. Real you. Not this shell pretending to be okay.""I helped Elena hide Declan's daughter. I lied to his face. I destroyed the one relationship that mattered." I finally sat up, accepting the inevitable. "How exactly am I supposed to be real me when real me made choices I cannot defend?""By accepting you made the best choice you could with the information you had." Lily sat

"All rise for Judge Marianna Conti."The Italian courtroom was smaller than I expected, intimate in a way that made every emotion feel magnified. I sat in the gallery behind Declan, close enough to see the tension in his shoulders, far enough that he could pretend I was not there.Elena entered with her lawyer, a sharp-dressed woman named Francesca Romano who looked like she ate billionaires for breakfast. Sophia was not present, thank God. Some mercy in this nightmare.But Camilla was there. Sitting in the back row, smiling like she knew something no one else did.Judge Conti took her seat, surveying the room with the expression of someone who had seen too many custody battles and believed in none of them."This is an emergency hearing to determine temporary custody of Sophia Westcott while paternity and parental rights are established," she said in perfect English. "Miss Westcott, you claim Mr. Westcott is unfit to parent his daughter. Please present your evidence."Elena's lawyer s