Rose’s POV
The silence after my confession was unbearable. Jack stared at me, his hands on his hips, breathing heavily as though he had run a marathon, though we both stood still in the dim, flickering candlelight. Ellie clung to my leg, her wide, teary eyes darting between us.
“You… you never chose him?” Jack repeated, his voice low, laced with disbelief.
I nodded, my throat tightening. “I didn’t have a choice, Jack. Margaret—she threatened me. She said she’d ruin any chance you had of a better life. She said she’d destroy your shot at making it in soccer. She made me believe that staying with you would only hold you back. I thought I was protecting you.”
Jack’s jaw tensed, the flicker of a muscle in his cheek betraying the storm brewing inside him. “You had a choice, Rose. You could
