Chapter 48

Elsie had trouble sleeping again that night. Her mood had always been too easily swayed by William. Maybe she just wasn’t heartless enough. No matter how hard she tried to be detached, his relentless affection still managed to stir up emotions she couldn't suppress. Of course it’d still hurt. In her twenty-something years of life, she’d only really loved one person—and that person used to mean the world to her. He had loved her deeply and taught her how painful love could be too. Everyone has their own version of what love is supposed to be. For Elsie, the word had William’s name carved into it. Your first love is powerful because it sets the standard. That first eye contact, first kiss, the first flutter of knowing what love felt like, and the first time learning how to give it back—those moments burned themselves into her memory. Every love after that carries remnants of the first. And for Elsie, love had always come with a layer of pain. Loving someone meant handing them the sharpes