Every polite smile Jerica gave felt hollow, every handshake an unwelcome distraction from the gnawing emptiness building inside her. She moved mechanically, her lips forming words, her body performing the requisite gestures, but her heart was lost, focused on a singular search—for Jared.
The man she had thought she knew, the husband she had loved for so long, now felt like a phantom slipping further away, leaving her grasping at memories.
Her eyes darted across the sea of faces, elegantly dressed in their finest, the polished charm and artificial laughter bouncing off the ballroom's grand chandeliers. The room was magnificent, the kind of place that could have made her feel invincible once. But tonight, the weight of it felt like chains, dragging her deeper into a solitude she hadn't known existed.