Chapter 37 Cracks In The Wall

After that conversation, it’s like a wall has been built between us. Not a flimsy barrier that could be broken with a touch or a word, but a cold, unyielding wall that Ric seems unwilling to scale. He doesn’t talk to me — doesn’t even look at me. His usual, effortless confidence feels like a distant memory. Instead, he sits across from me at the breakfast table, quietly eating the meal Rose delivered in the morning. The scrape of his fork against the plate is the only sound in the room, loud enough to make me wince. I sit there, idly pushing the food around on my plate, the knots in my stomach leaving me incapable of taking even a single bite. The guilt of wasting it eventually washes over me, and I force myself to eat. The flavours that would’ve normally delighted me now taste like nothing. I swallow hard, willing the lump in my throat to disappear.