Is it Second Chance?
I checked the windows, ensuring they were sealed.
I returned to Chloe, kissing her cheek. “Listen to me, love. You must stay in your room, okay? The door stays locked. Nobody comes in. Not ever. If you hear a knock, you stay quiet, like a little mouse. Mama will be back before you eat breakfast.”
The instructions were agonizingly specific, yet they were for me—a desperate prayer to the universe that she would remain safe and silent for the eight hours I was gone.
The guilt was a physical knot in my chest, a daily penance for the selfishness that had led me to this room. But that guilt was also the fire that fueled my new ambition. I had to succeed at Izakaya Mori.
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