When Alina finally walked back to her cubicle, her mind was still heavy from the confrontation with her parents. She expected to see Liam either asleep or staring at the blank monitor, but she stopped dead in her tracks.
There, curled up on the small foam mattress she had brought for Liam, was a second child—a little girl with soft curls, sleeping soundly beside her son.
Alina blinked, wondering if her exhaustion was making her see things. Who else would bring their child to a graveyard shift at a failing publishing house?
"Alina? I've been waiting for you. Good evening." The voice was familiar, bright, and slightly out of place in the office.
Alina raised her head to look at the person sitting in Abigail's empty chair.
"Ms. Jane…" Alina paused, her brain searching for the last name.
"Doe," Jane finished for her, a wide grin spreading across her face. Her brown eyes lit up with a friendly warmth as she watched Alina take her seat.
