Tara’s POV

I felt it all over again, those old heartaches that used to split me open from the inside, like someone was taking a dull knife and carving slow lines across my chest. The silent longing sat heavy in my stomach for days, stretching into weeks, then years. An ache that refused to leave. There was an empty hole that nothing could fill—not food, not sleep, not even crying until my eyes swelled shut and my head throbbed.

Back then, I thought it was just part of being a teenage girl. My parents would pat my head gently and say, “It’s normal, sweetheart. Everyone feels like this sometimes.” And...