Chapter 126

• Howard sprawled on the king-sized bed in his cavernous bedroom, silk sheets tangled around his legs, eyes locked on the shadowed ceiling fan spinning lazy circles overhead. Vanessa's bitter slap burned fresh in memory, Ruby's tiny casket lowering into rain-soaked earth replayed in loops, and Charlotte's quiet departure sliced sharper than expected—minds tangled in grief's knot, twisting tighter with each breath.
• He rolled onto his side, punching the pillow once, hard—then flipped back, sheets whispering protest. The clock glowed 11:47 p.m.; sleep should've claimed him hours ago. Rest. Need it. But eyes stayed wide, body wired.
• A growl ripped from his throat. He sat up abruptly, raking hands through disheveled hair, feet hitting cold hardwood. Can't bear this empty room. Marriage barely days old—no love, no fire between them—yet her absence gnawed like hunger, the vanity mirror bare without her brush strokes, air too still sans her steady presence.