After the divorce, Claire let her teenage son, Mason, move in with his dad. She didn’t fight it. She knew how important that bond was for a boy his age, and she wanted to honor that. So she stepped back—not out of indifference, but out of love. She still called, still texted, still waited for updates. But over time, the calls grew shorter, then stopped altogether. The silence stretched. Then came the call from his school. His teachers were worried—missing assignments, quiet withdrawal,

a spark that seemed dimmed. Claire’s heart sank. She knew something wasn’t right. What she discovered was worse than she imagined: Mason, barely eating, hiding his hunger and heartache behind silence. His father, once steady, had lost his job and was slowly unraveling—emotionally absent, financially strained, overwhelmed by shame and silence. The fridge was empty, the house cold,