RaeganSalander
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- Parts 4
Quick note for my readers before you start this story. It is going to be taken off and sent off to the editor on the 13th of December 2025.
Fern thought marriage meant partnership, love, and the quiet safety of family. For four years she's tried to believe that-tried to ignore the sharp edges of a mother-in-law who never wanted her, an ex who had moved too close for comfort and a husband who is always looking the other way.
But when her husband's negligence leaves their little girl in a hospital bed with burns on her hand, Fern can no longer swallow the excuses. She is done being the afterthought in her own marriage.
Her husband Conner insists he loves her, but love doesn't keep a child safe. Love doesn't silence a mother-in-law's whispers or stop an ex from poisoning the air of every family gathering. Love isn't enough-not when Fern's entire world has been built on the shaky ground of compromise.
And as the fractures in their marriage widen into fault lines, Fern has to face the question she's been afraid to ask-
What if walking away is the only way to save herself and her daughter?