.
(Esther’s Point of View)
The night was unusually quiet. I laid next to Matthew, his steady breathing the only sound in the room. The silence was heavy, filled with unspoken words and unanswered questions. I could feel the weight of everything between us..the past, the mistakes, the heartbreak, and the quiet hope that still lingered, just enough to keep us from falling apart completely.
I glanced at Matthew, his face relaxed in sleep, but I could see the tension still present in his shoulders. The man I had grown to love was here, but so was the man who had hurt me, the one whose past haunted him and, by extension, haunted us both.
I had tried to forgive him. I really had. But there were days, like today, when it felt impossible. The guilt he carried…the burden of his choices…kept us
