The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender

while the thought of being dead seemed appealing, the actual act of dying did not. Dying required too much action. And if recent events proved anything, my body wasn’t going to give over to death without a fierce fight; so if I were to kill myself, I’d have to make sure I could do it. That I’d be good and dead once it was all over and not mutilated or half deranged but still dreadfully alive.

She no longer had one to give.

Emilienne silently promised she’d be good to her husband, as long as he didn’t ask for her heart