REBECCA’S POV
I woke early the next morning with a decision already sitting in my chest before I had fully opened my eyes.
I was not going to carry yesterday into today.
This was not forgiveness. I want to be precise about that, because there is a difference between forgiveness and refusal—the refusal to let something continue costing you after it has already cost you once.
I had spent the night with the necklace, with the receipt, with the specific weight of understanding exactly how carefully Edmund had remembered something for the wrong woman.
I had let it sit in my chest until it had done whatever damage it was going to do.
This morning, I was setting it down.
Not because it no longer mattered.
Because carrying it into today would cost me something I was not willing to spend.
