When their youngest child was only six years old, Silvi was taken from him by someone operating a vehicle while drunk. Suddenly, Jona found himself caring for his businesses and his two children completely alone. He took a break from writing and spent all of his time during the day keeping the shelters and his new publishing company going until the kids came home from school. Then he focused entirely on them. Occasionally he would allow himself to watch Ronnie while she went about her life, singing to herself or her child, but most of the time he knew that he just didn't have the time. There were a half dozen authors publishing through his company, and if it wasn't keeping everyone organized and preparing for book launches then it was making sure the shelters were running well. He had opened three more V's Home locations in other cities, and while he trusted the directors that he hired to run them there was always a degree of doubt when so much money was involved. It had been a long time before his personal finances were needed to make sure the lights stayed on there, donations pouring in monthly from former residents and kind-hearted people keeping every building well maintained. At first he was planning on staying in the shadows and letting the director's manage everything, but when one of the financial officer's at the third location absconded with a tremendous amount of donations it was necessary for him to step up. His name was officially released and he spent some time restructuring the entire organization. Fail safes were put into place to keep anything like it from happening again.
The children were able to get through their grief over the next couple of years with the help of talk doctors, and Jona worked through his by throwing himself into work and being a good father. Over time he started writing again and a new series based on Veronica's world was born. Once again, he was content. After the kids were asleep he started going to his own bed early, staring at the little mirror he kept in his side table waiting for Veronica to do her nightly routines. She had split from her husband when her child was only a few years old, and whether she had been singing less because of sadness or if she was as busy as he was trying to work and raise his children alone, he did not know. But every night she would quietly sing to her daughter and when it was done it was not long before she was singing to herself as she cleaned her house and did her workouts. A few times she had been singing as she washed up for the night, and as long as there was no sign that she was in,or was about to be in the shower he kept watching, the regular motions of her brushing her hair were so soothing. Her face had filled out some over the years, but those same freckles and dark brown eyes smiled back at him whenever she looked in a mirror. He had loved Silvi, but, although he could not explain it, Veronica had always had part of his heart.