Then came the morning that undid everything. The apartment was hushed after Emily left for school. Tula moved through the kitchen slowly, boiling water for tea. Just as she reached for the cup, a bolt of pain shot through her stomach, blinding and sudden. Her hand jerked. The cup slipped.
Porcelain shattered across the tiled floor, a sound too sharp to be ignored. Tula staggered back, one hand clutched around her middle, breath ragged, knees giving out beneath her. A door banged open behind her. Ashley, pale and wide-eyed, rushed into the kitchen—her mother crumpled on the floor before her.