rammed plastic bags in my arms in search of my house keys. Not that I'm old but I'm not young, either, es

amers peeked out from one bag, along with the custom cake topper I'd ordered weeks ago. Michael had been so consumed with

in love with each other, an infinite number of pregn

nes across the marble floor that echoed beneath my heels. Normally, I would expect to see Maria hovering in th

es under the high ceil

le

that matched the one his grandfather wore in the only photograph he kept of him- seemed heavy in my hand. A peace offering of sor

rfect. Now I could surprise him, show him the decorations,

ip in my step. I approached the door to Michael's

lenching t

uld be recogn

ss

foundation documents for Elizabeth, but that was supposed

more intimate. Something cold

cracked open, just

he plush hallway carpet. Suddenly the shopping bags were feeling like a

ownstairs. Call

drawing me toward the crack of light seeping from the half-cl

the door

splin

reading while Michael worked late. Her long legs, so like mine but not mine, wrapped around hi

The crash jolted them apart, Jessica

praisal, like I was an inconvenience rathe

on her lips. As though sh

ng palely as he scrambled to co

xygen from my lungs. My lungs felt like the

uded into everything, lying in wait against the cu

l told her. It was the most pathetic lie

aughter build in my chest. H

spered words scraping my thro

taway dress. "He needed someone who could give him what he wants, Aria.

e precision of that cruelty cut it from me.

mind perhaps ever narrowed to the decorations scattered across the floor- the silver ban

ay into the

e contorted into what looked like guilt but could not be g

someone too strong for me. Someone who certainly

ng the ball. Across the foyer Michael had carried me through five years ago, both of us laughin

n the third attempt and managing to open th

a, w

ould either shatter completely or, worse, I might listen to whatever lies he c

hing my tires all the way. Michael was in the driveway behind me, hastily dre

from the mansion. Away from the vivid picture in my mind of Jess

led for my phone, and called t

roke my voice. "I n

wrong? You s

first waves of tears came, hot and fast.

lared behind me, but I could not move.

ice sharpened with concer

n, the photo I'd taken of him last summer when we'd escaped to Cape May fo

ined t

address," I manag

ng, reality pummeled me with the suffocating wave of what had just happened. My ph

e come

s a mi

eed t

ove

steering wheel, my body racked with sobs that fe

The two people I trus

words, piercing into the core of my most profound

rely to be the example of a poor incu

hile mine lay in smoky ruins. A mother walked by with her wee daughter coming from

amily I migh

a man who could betray me so completely. Not with a sis

the illustrious history of the Walton family. I took a deep a

he lot, I was no longer crying. The hurt hadn't lessene

she said before moving on in a fierce

ing her concerned

stones dropping into still water. "I

e the weight of huge burdens slowly being lifted as I imagined walking

gitating in my heart in the knowledge that from that day on, I would never have to endu

building in my heart, hardening upon my

ltons wanted war, the

gravely underestimated what Aria Campbell-f