I thought I made the right choice marrying a good man, raising a family, building a life I could be proud of. But somewhere along the way, I stopped recognizing the woman in the mirror… and the man I married.

Now we’re just going through the motions: two strangers living under the same roof, bound by vows that feel more like chains.

And then… he came back. DeShawn. The one who knew me before life got heavy. The one who never needed explanations to understand me. It was never supposed to be more than a moment. A conversation. A memory. But the way he looks at me now feels like home.

This isn’t a love triangle. It’s a slow unraveling. A woman torn between the life she built and the love she never forgot. Between duty and desire. Between staying and starting over.

Shania Elliott's THE FIRE WE TRIED TO FORGET is the beginning of a story about love that lingers, choices that change everything, and what happens when buried feelings come back burning.