KIERAN’S POV
I stared at the read receipt, wondering why the hell I had sent the message in the first place.
I knew there would be no typing bubbles, no reply.
Why would there be? Did I really expect a birthday greeting and those three meaningless words—Hope you’re well—to fix it all?
After what I said to her, after what I did, how could that ever be enough?
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her face—not the hardened Sera who'd pushed me away these past months, not the defiant woman who'd looked at me with ice in her gaze.
No, that day, she looked…wrecked. Shattered in a way I had never seen before—not even when I asked for a divorce or when we had to send Daniel away.
And it had been my doing.
Celeste's reddened cheek. Her tear-streaked story. They'd ignited a rage so blinding I hadn't stopped to question. Hadn't considered that there might be another side.
I'd stormed into Sera's home and—god—I'd unleashed. Every cruel word was a weapon wielded for Celeste's sake.
