Chapter 56 – Shame
"..."
The silence between the two of them was suffocating—heavier than any words could have been. A grieving mother sat before her son, carrying the unbearable weight of losing her husband. And across from her, a boy sat still, a boy who never quite understood the chaos of human emotions.
Jack knew something was wrong inside of him. He knew he wasn't alright with the thought of his father being dead. Yet, even as he turned the idea over in his mind, it hadn't settled in fully. It didn't feel real, not in the way people described grief. It didn't feel like he had lost someone who was supposed to matter so deeply.
And still—his chest ached. His heart throbbed painfully, as though mourning in his stead.
"I'm sorry, Jack. I couldn't do anything." His mother's voice cracked. Her eyes shut tightly as tears traced down her cheeks, fragile and unstoppable.
