Juniper sat tucked away in a shadowed corner of a modest local restaurant, the flickering glow of a single candle on a small Christmas cake illuminating her tired features.
This moment was a bittersweet memory of her childhood. Ever since she had been adopted, her mother would buy a cake of Juniper's choosing as the very first act of every Christmas morning.
They would blow out the candle together, a silent pact of love and belonging. Since her mother's passing, that warmth had been replaced by a solitude; Juniper had continued the tradition alone despite having her father and brothers until Dominick had entered her life.
For a brief time, she had truly believed that every Christmas from then on would be spent by his side. But her own greed had acted like a poison, eroding the foundation of everything they had built.
By the time the haze of her ambition had cleared and she realized what she was losing, it was already too late.
