Parting With No Regrets

When my husband, Jared Lockwood, walked in, I was picking up the broken glass from the floor.

Since marrying Jared, it had been a long time since I had done any chores. I thought, for sure, he'd come over to help me clean it up and take care of me like he always did. But instead, he rushed over and shoved me aside.

The force of his push made the glass shards cut into my hand.

Before I could even scream, he grabbed me by the throat. His face contorted in anger. "Why did you break my glass, Winter Sloan?"

Before I could explain, his grip tightened, cutting off my air.

By the time Jared finally let go, I was gasping for breath. His actions erased any guilt I had felt inside.

With a slight irritation, I said, "It's just a glass. Don't overreact. I'll just buy you a new one."

Instead of calming down, he laughed at my words.

"Buy me a new one? Can it ever compare to this? That glass was a gift from Naomi, the last thing she gave me before she died."

My face went pale in an instant.

The Naomi he spoke of was his unattainable first love, Naomi Hardin.

I knew about her, but Jared and I had never fought over her because Naomi was already dead.

Before we got married, my best friend, Brielle Figueroa, warned me to think twice. She said that the living could never compare to the dead.

But Jared assured me that he loved me, that Naomi was in the past, and he had let her go. I was his present and future.

I believed him.

But now, as I looked at the blood oozing from my hand, it felt like reality was mocking me. I had been a fool to think that he could forget his first love so easily.

I stood up, intending to tend to my wound.

But Jared wouldn't let go. He grabbed my wrist and demanded, "Why, Winter? Why can't you just let go of a dead person?

"You think breaking a glass will make Naomi's place in my heart disappear? Let me tell you. That'll never happen! You'll never measure up to her! If you didn't look so much like her, I never would have married you!"

My body trembled uncontrollably at his words.

I had thought Jared and I were on the same page, that we were both in love with each other and loyal to each other.

But it turned out that he had just been looking at me to see someone else.