Prologue: The Mystery of the Vanished Denarii In the days when our household on the Palatine Hill was accustomed to placid routines and the steady clink of bronze struck true, […]
Prologue: A Mother’s Vigil by the Sea In the waning light of Floralia’s final hour, I, Julia Aemilia, stood at the threshold of our modest villa overlooking Bar Harbor’s restless […]
Prologue: The Gathering of Storms In the waning light of an April dawn, I stood upon the threshold of our humble domus, where once laughter reigned supreme and the very […]
Preface: A Funeral Unlike Any Other I have walked through many valleys of shadow, borne witness to the final farewells of comrades and kin alike, and felt the weight of […]
Introduction On a sweltering summer afternoon, under a sky so relentless it seemed to press down on everyone’s shoulders, the neighborhood block party hummed with laughter and the clatter of […]
The Sound of Bells and Silence The bells of St. Michael’s rang low, each chime like a slow heartbeat echoing through the ancient stone of the church. It was the […]
When Alina was younger, winter nights meant hot chocolate and flickering television screens filled with sweeping music and glittering costumes. She pressed her face against the glass, eyes wide as […]
Discharge Day and an Empty Heart The nurse’s words should have been a relief. “You’re cleared to go home,” she said, offering me a kind smile as she handed over […]
When they finally told us we could go home, relief should’ve washed over me. Instead, my chest felt hollow. My daughter, Callie, grinned beneath her mask, clutching her beloved bunny […]
Prologue: Hospitality Meets Hypocrisy When Barbara gleefully accepted my offer to host her 60th-birthday celebration in my meticulously designed apartment, I believed I was giving her the evening of her […]