There was a long pause before the words appeared, slower this time, deliberate:
No. I won't stop. You can tell me I break your heart in the future, you can tell me you hate me—but right now, in this moment, I love you. And I'm not letting you go.
Emma slammed the book shut, but the words burned into her mind long after.
The days that followed were torture. She tried to throw herself into packing, into preparing for the looming divorce. She ignored Ethan's cold texts asking about documents, about assets, about the inevitable division of their lives.
But every night, the workbook called to her. Every night, she opened its pages. And every night, the boy she had loved more than anyone whispered across time, refusing to let her forget what they once were.
No matter how much she resisted, the past had come alive—and Emma could feel the impossible thread of connection tightening around her heart, binding her to a story that refused to end.