Page 100 of The Edge Of Us

"I have."

My mother walked over and kissed my forehead gently. I didn't deserve even that. But I let her. Because for the first time in years, I wanted to get better.

As they left the room, I turned my head to the window. The sky outside was turning a soft, pinkish blue. Morning light.

I had made every mistake a man could make. Betrayed the love of my life. Damaged my children. Hurt a woman who had once trusted me with everything. But I was still alive.

Corinne didn't owe me mercy. But she gave it anyway. Not for me. But for the children. And I was going to make sure that someday, when they were older, they would look at me and not see a monster.

They would see a man who fell, but chose to rise.

And I would never, ever give them a reason to be afraid again.

Chapter 55

Corine

It had been exactly one month since that night. Since the gunshot, the blood, the screaming, the ambulance lights painting the streets of L.A. in red and blue. Since the sound of my own children crying for me became something that echoed in my head every time I closed my eyes.

And yet, here I was-healing, slowly. Both inside and out. My stitches were gone, but the ache remained. Not just in my arm, but in my heart. I hadn't returned home. I couldn't. My therapist warned me that being back there, in that living room where Allen nearly destroyed me, would be too triggering. So, Jasper took me in. Me, Brittany, Kyle, and Astrid. He didn't even hesitate.

Jasper had been... everything. My rock, my safe place. He was there when I couldn't speak, when I couldn't sleep, when the nightmares made my body jolt awake in a cold sweat. He was there when Kyle wouldn't let go of me or when Astrid cried and pointed to my bandaged hand asking, "Mommy, ouchie?"

He didn't just care for me. He took care of all of us.

But nothing ever stays calm for long.

It was mid-afternoon, Brittany had taken the kids to the backyard to paint while I nursed a cup of tea and flipped through a book I hadn't been able to read for the last fifteen minutes. My body tensed when I heard the loud knocking at the door.

Jasper was on the phone in the kitchen, but as soon as the knocking turned into pounding, he hung up. I stood, my heart already racing, but he gave me a look and gestured for me to sit down.

Then he opened the door.

"Jasper Jonathan, you have ignored our calls for the last time," his mother's sharp voice rang through the house before I could even register her face. His father was right behind her, face tight and eyes scanning the room like he was inspecting filth.

"Mom. Dad. Not now," Jasper said, already shutting the door behind them.

But it was too late. They'd seen me.

"Is this it?" his mother snapped. "Is she the reason you've been a ghost? The reason your father's name is being dragged through the media like garbage?"

I flinched.

Jasper moved between me and them like a shield. "Don't speak about her like that. Not here. Not in my house."

"Your house? Our name? Do you know what's being said, Jasper? 'Politician's son plays knight in shining armor to deranged woman.' You think that's good for your father's campaign? You think scandal and pity is what we need right now?"

I stood up, tears already stinging my eyes. "I'm not looking for pity," I said softly, but my voice cracked. "And I'm not deranged. I'm a mother trying to survive."

His father sighed, shaking his head. "She has children, Jasper. Another man's children. A man who almost killed her. You want to tie yourself to that forever?"

"They're not that man's kids to me," Jasper snapped, fury in his voice. "They're Kyle and Astrid. They're her kids. And I love them."

His mother scoffed. "You're going to ruin everything for a woman who brings danger and baggage?"

"Stop!" I shouted, tears falling freely now. "Do you think I asked for any of this? I never wanted to fall apart in front of the whole world. I never wanted my kids to see me bleeding or their father unconscious on our living room floor. I didn't ask for the media to find out about us or for your perfect image to be tainted. But guess what? My life isn't about your campaigns."

Jasper turned to me, his face softening as he reached for my hand. I took it, trembling.

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