Gemotions

The air in the library, normally soothing, felt stifling. Charles examined the photographs, each image a fresh wound. His father had always spoken of his mother’s quiet strength, her devotion to family.

The photos revealed something else entirely. There she was, laughing with someone who was not his father. Her eyes, usually full of love and understanding, shone with a different kind of joy. The betrayal, the deceit, gnawed at Charles’s insides.

He felt sick, as though he’d been tricked. The pain was physical, a constricting pressure around his chest. He closed his eyes, desperate to escape the weight of the pictures, the shattering of everything he thought he knew.