Crimson Petals, Shattered Glass

Previously

…A single tear traced a path down her cheek, hot against her cold skin. She felt a familiar ache in her chest, a deep, gnawing emptiness. Elias’s words had landed their mark, as they always did, leaving her feeling diminished, worthless. She was trapped in a life that was slowly, inexorably, crushing her spirit. The cottage, once a symbol of her dreams, had become her prison, and Elias, the jailer who held the keys to her despair. The cold hearth seemed to mock her, a stark reminder of the warmth that had long since departed from her life. She closed her eyes, a silent plea for escape forming on her lips, a wish for a world beyond the suffocating confines of her shadowed hearth.