(Slade’s POV)
I came back at four in the morning because my anger finally burned itself out.
I was wrong.
I kept seeing Aspen’s face.
I’d meant every harsh word in the moment. That was the worst part. I had meant them because I was drowning. She’d opened a wound and left it bleeding.
But Aspen did not know.
She did not know what that house used to be. She did not know what we lost. She did not know what Christmas meant to me and why it made me feel like I couldn’t breathe.
I never told her.
So, I had no right.
Pippa knew.
Pippa was in my house and must have seen the decorations. She knew exactly what it would do to me, and she let it happen anyway.
That thought sharpened into something ugly as I turned into the driveway.
The front of the main house was dark.
I parked and sat t
