Chapter 4No Old Love on the Other Side

That night, my dreams were full of Wyatt.

The Wyatt from our childhood, his words as sweet as honey.

“Josie, your eyes are so pretty. Can I look at them whenever I talk to you?”

“Josie, you play the piano so beautifully. Can I come listen to your concert every day?”

“Josie, I like you the most! When we grow up, I’m going to marry you!”

And I loved him, too. We had to be desk partners at school, had to play together after class. I was even in his family’s car when my parents got into their accident, playing rock-paper-scissors with him.

The two cars had been so close.

I saw it all. The semi-truck barreling through the intersection.

BOOM—

My father, my mother, my older brother, even the little dog I’d had since I was a puppy… all of them, swallowed by an inferno.

For a long time after that, I couldn't make a sound. I needed Wyatt beside me just to fall asleep. He was so patient back then. He helped me practice speaking, read me stories all night long. If anyone dared to call me a “mute,” he’d meet them with a clenched fist.

Marrying him felt like the most natural thing in the world. The day after I got my college diploma, he was leaning over my bed at dawn. “Josie,” he whispered, “let’s go get another certificate.”

That day, we became husband and wife.

In my dream, our new home was buried in a sea of crimson roses. He knelt on the bed, kissing me with such tenderness. He promised we’d be this happy for the rest of our lives.

But when I woke up, the world was pitch black.

I fumbled for my phone. Another text from Sadie.

It was a photo. Messy, tangled sheets, and on them, a single, damning smear of crimson.

A wave of nausea crashed over me. I bolted to the bathroom, retching until only bitter tears came out. I ended up curled on the cold tile, hugging my knees. I don''t know what I pressed on my phone, but in the dead silence of the night, a low, deep voice suddenly spoke.

“Josephine?”

My heart leaped. I snatched the phone.

“Sebastian…?”