(Virginia’s POV)
The silence of the church is a suffocating blanket. It amplifies the sound of my own heart hammering against my ribs.
I stand just outside the side door, hidden in the shadows of the narthex, watching Jasper still on his knees before the altar.
He is a mess. A magnificent, agonizing mess.
And every tear he sheds, every choked whisper of her name rips my heart to shreds.
Part of me wants to go to him anyways, to comfort him, to try once again to make him see that I'm here. That I've always been here.
But another part of me—the part that's been growing tired and weary with each passing day—has had enough.
I slip out the back entrance and find a quiet corner of the church courtyard. My hands shake as I pull out my phone and scroll through my contacts until I find the n
