#Chapter 258: Spiritual Damage

Ella’s POV The days following Lucien’s miraculous recovery should have been the happiest of my life. My son was healing faster than anyone could have predicted. The scratches on his arms and chest were fading into nothing more than thin pink lines, and some of them disappeared entirely. Laughter filled the nursery again, my mother was out of her wheelchair and walking the halls with only a slight limp, and Alexander’s mind was clear of those horrific visions that Margaret had instilled in him. Everything was fixed. So why did I feel like I was missing a limb? I found myself standing in the nursery doorway one afternoon, watching Alexander rock Lucien in the chair by the window. It was a beautiful scene—sunlight streaming over both of them, Lucien smiling up at his father, Alexander finally at peace… But when I looked at Alexander, I felt… nothing. Well. Not exactly nothing. I still loved him. I cared about him. I wanted to be near him. But that