Chapter fifty nine (Peter disappointment in Karen )

Mark had call Jane to come see Karen

Jane sat beside her on the edge of the bed, the mattress dipping under her weight. For a moment, neither of them spoke. Karen’s breath trembled; Jane’s fingers tapped nervously against her thigh. The silence felt too loud, too sharp, like it carried the echoes of everything Karen had just destroyed.

“You need to get dressed,” Jane murmured eventually. “Peter, he might still be around.”

Karen flinched, feeling the words like a blade sliding between her ribs. “I can’t face him,” she whispered.

“You don’t have a choice.”

Karen moved slowly, as if gravity pressed harder on her than on everyone else. She slipped out of the sheets, pulling on her dress with hands that wouldn’t stop shaking. She felt exposed even after covering herself like shame had settled on her skin.

Jane watched her quietly, eyes softening just slightly. “Look I shouldn’t have snapped at you,” she said. “I was angry. But I’m still here. I’m not leaving you alone in this.”

Kar