Chapter 73: Drowning in Shadows

Chapter 73: Drowning in Shadows

Jarrel sat alone in his dimly lit chamber, the room filled with the stench of alcohol. Bottles were strewn across the floor, some shattered in his fury. His hand gripped a half-empty bottle of whiskey, the liquid sloshing in time with the erratic beat of his pulse.

He tilted his head back, eyes glassy and unfocused, as he took another swig, the burn in his throat doing little to numb the ache in his chest. The drink was supposed to silence the guilt, but it never did. It only made the voices louder—the voices of the past, of his father, of his brother, of everyone who had been hurt by his hands. The voice inside that whispered he was nothing more than the monster they all feared.

“She’s better off without me,” he muttered under his breath, though the words felt hollow. His jaw clenched as his thoughts spiraled, each one cutting deeper than the last. “I’m a fool to think I could ever be anything else.”

His thoughts dragged him back to that night—the nig