Jacob~
I lay sprawled across the bed, the sheets still a mess from where Easter had stormed out, her fury lingering in the air like a summer thunderstorm that had cracked open right above me. The room felt too big, too empty without her in it, and the silence pressed down on me until my chest ached like someone had set a stone right where my heart should be.
Gods, I felt like hell. I'd ripped away her memories—torn them clean out—just to keep her alive, and now, spilling the truth had been like slicing open a wound that had barely started to heal. Watching her eyes when I told her… that hurt more than anything.
But regret saving her? No. Not for a single heartbeat. If I could roll the clock back, I'd do it all over again, without hesitation. Her life, Rose's life, and now the new baby's—those were non-negotiable. They came before anything else. Memories? Those were delicate, fragile things. They could be rebuilt, re-shaped. I'd just tried to do exactly that.
