LORETTA

I wasn't asleep.

I had been trying to since I locked myself inside my room, taking a hot shower, lying underneath my thick comforter in the dark, willing my eyes to snap shut and my brain to turn off so I would get at least eight hours of peace before morning

Eight hours where I wouldn't see another bride everywhere I turned, her big smile and her beautiful face as she waited for her groom who never came because I sent him to jail

Nothing I did worked

“Guess I'll just have to suffer all night then” I muttered into the silent room, my voice coming out low and...