Redemption of love

HS L

room. Emma stared out the window, her thoughts tangled in a web of regret and despair. Her li

long since stopped noticing. The kids were still asleep, and for that, she was grateful. She didn't know how to face them yet, how to l

ightstand. One unread mes

ed to

air-every time their paths crossed, the cycle repeated itself. There was always a moment when t

iven freely. She had never felt the warmth of affection from her parents, who were too busy with their own lives to notice the void in hers

t, was conditional. It came with strings at

, the way he made her feel seen. But in doing so, she had betrayed the only person who

gun to gather in her eyes and stood up, trying to shake off the heaviness that

fingers trembling as she

ow. I don't kno

ow how to fix this, didn't know if she even could. Emma had been running from the tr

truly known love, never understood what it meant to give and receive it in its purest form. Instead, she had settled

, Lily, standing in the doorway, rubbing her eyes. Lily's face was a mixture o

?" Lily's voice wa

eserve this sweetness, this innocence. Lily didn't deserve the

as anything but fine. She was lost, consumed by

if it was already too late for redemption. Could she ever ma

once a series of quiet compromises, was about to change in way