Chapter 15

The scenery outside the car window blurred past at a dizzying speed, twisting into a whirl of colors. But flashes of memory tore through Stanley's mind with brutal clarity. Tessa in the kitchen, cooking for him for the first time, flour smeared on her cheek, smiling shyly yet radiant. Tessa at Alexis' grave, eyes red and swollen, tears tracing the curve of her face in silence. Tessa's body shaking in agony when he forced her jaw out of place, unable to make a sound. Tessa hanging upside down from the pear tree, face purple and swollen, blood rushing the wrong way, still refusing to cry out. And finally, her hand signing the surgery consent form, each letter etched with heartbreaking resolve. "Tess… Tess!" He screamed her name again and again, tears blinding him before the wind ripped them away. It felt like an invisible fist had clamped around his heart, shredding it into pieces, every breath tasting of blood and pain. Regret seared him like a thousand burning needles driving i