Howard.
Eleven long years had passed since the day my mother's heart had given out, crushed beneath the weight of my father's actions. It had been the darkest moment of my life, a pain that still haunted me to my core. There were no comforting words from my father, no solace in his presence, just the relentless memory of what he'd done.
I downed the last remnants of my drink and signaled for another, the burn of alcohol the only thing that dulled the ache within me. I realized that I only turned to the bottle when I was upset, a habit I hadn't indulged in for so long that it felt like a distant memory. And the source of my peace? Nora.
Nora, who had entered my life like a storm, shattering my carefully constructed walls. I despised her for making me believe in love again, for making me
