TO ASK FORGIVENESS

AFTER saying all that, Anthony felt as if the weight of years had crashed down on him all at once. His chest tightened, and he struggled to breathe, the silence in the room stretching on, making each second feel like an eternity. He had never felt this exposed, this raw, in his entire life. His hands were shaking, and his throat felt dry, his heart pounding in his ears. He didn't know what to expect—anger, maybe, or worse, a cold, indifferent silence.

Looking at Emmaline, he could see her face was calm, but he couldn't tell what she was thinking. The uncertainty was unbearable. Tears began to fill his eyes, blurring his vision, and he blinked them away, feeling the sting of each unshed tear. He felt so small in that moment, so utterly broken by the thought of what he'd done, of how much he'd failed her. The memories of that time flooded back—every mistake, every moment he had pushed her aside, all the times his need for revenge had blinded him.