••••
Eli
•••
Malia’s plea pierces through me like a dagger, and the tears that I have been keeping at bay break free, dead inside, as her grip on me tightens. “Please, Eli, don’t leave me. I love you. I can’t do this alone. I can’t raise our kids on my own,” she pleads and every fiber of the human in me aches to stay, to hold her close, to tell her everything will be alright. But it won’t be. I can’t be with her and the guilt claws at me, twisting my insides until I’m suffocating in it. All my life, I’ve never hated myself as much as I do at this moment.
“I’ll be here for the children,” I choke out, even though I know it’ll never be enough. But Malia shakes her head vehemently, the tears that burn my soul continuing to flow freely on her face as she tells me she knows I love her. “I k
