JASPER POV
The house was finally quiet.
Not peaceful.
Just empty. Like something had been ripped out and left bleeding, silent in that ugly way that follows a mess someone else will have to clean up.
I stood in the hallway outside the kids’ bedroom longer than necessary, jaw clenched, hands fisted at my sides. The door was closed. Locked. I could still hear Owen sniffing on the other side, those broken little breaths he made when he cried too hard and didn’t know how to stop. Aria knew how to calm him, each single time, I did not.
Ella hadn’t made a sound since we brought them in.
That bothered me more.
She’d looked at me earlier like she didn’t recognize me. Like I was something she’d misjudged and was now filing away under 'villain'. Kids weren’t supposed to look at their parents
