God sees the heart

GLORIA

The sermon had already begun, Michael’s voice rising and falling in rhythms from the pulpit. I sat stiffly, my hands clenched in my lap, my body still humming from what I had done that morning in the shower. The shame hadn’t left. Neither had the ache. Every word from my husband’s mouth made me want to scream.

I couldn’t take it.

With a quiet sigh, I slipped out of the row and walked toward the back, pretending to need fresh air. My heels clicked softly against the tiled floor until I reached the chair near the entrance, a seat no one ever paid much attention to.

I sat there, my shoulders slumping, staring at the floor. My mind replayed everything from the morning… his cold eyes, his refusal, my own desperation under the shower. My chest squeezed tight… and then the doors opened.

I looked up, startled, and saw a man stepping inside. Definitely not a regular face.

He looked nothing like the polished, buttoned-up men who usually filled these seats.

Everything about him screamed w