Been A While

"Do you love me, Jackson?"

Jackson cupped her face, his touch gentle, his lips hovering just above hers. "With everything I have, Elissa. Always."

She had believed him. From the moment they met, Jackson had been her safe place—her dream of love wrapped in warm embraces and whispered promises. He was everything she had ever wanted, a man who knew how to love her, how to make her laugh, how to set her body on fire with a single touch. Their love had been effortless, intoxicating, the kind that made the world disappear.

Marriage was supposed to be a beautiful beginning, and for a while, it was. Jackson showered her with affection, made her feel like a queen. His family embraced her, and she basked in the warmth of a home she had longed for all her life. Every night, she fell asleep in his arms, believing she was the luckiest woman alive.

Until the love in his eyes turned into something else.

The passion that once burned between them became cold, distant. His once gentle touch became possessive, almost punishing. The man who had once worshipped her body began to treat it like a right, not a gift. She wasn’t sure when it changed—was it when she got pregnant? When she moved into his family home? Or had Jackson been wearing a mask all along?

"Jackson… what happened to us?" she whispered one night, hoping for the man she married to return.

He looked at her, his gaze unreadable, and for the first time, she felt afraid.

"Go to sleep, Elissa," he said, turning away.

But she couldn’t. Because deep inside, she knew—something was breaking. And this time, love alone wouldn’t be enough to save it.