allway, each word a hammer blow against my skull. I felt nothing and everything all at once. A profoun

in my chest. I watched them through the crack in

ged arm. "My hand is killing me, Liv. I don'

red hand. "Don' t worry about that, darling. I' ll take care of everything."

t invisible inscription on the inside. My wrist cuff. The one I had been wearing when I left for my overseas trip. I' d left it on my

ist. "Here," she said softly. "This w

irst year together. I had just won my first major architectural

tsman said it' s made from a blessed metal. It will protect the wearer from harm and bring th

hared future. It was my talisman. And now, it was on his wrist. He wa

And she had given it to my replacement. She had taken our sacred symbol and desecrated it, handed it over

dreams... they were all lies. Every single one. The foundation of

ty. There was no more confusion, no more hope for a m

o the elevator, my mind a quiet, desolate landscape. The pain was still ther

d pulled out a suitcase. I started packing. Not clothes, not personal items. Just the essentials. My fake passport, th

k nothing that she had ever given me. I left the photos, the gifts, th

iveway. My body tensed. Part of me, a weak, foolish part, wante

e up the stairs and saw me standing in the be

asked, a frown creasing her perfect

me old things," I sai

came over and wrapped her arms around me from behind, resting her chin on my shoulder. "I' m

he easy lie, it didn' t even hurt a

ive whisper, "how about I make up for my absence

twinkling fairy lights. In the center, a table was set for two with champagne and candles. A string quartet w

low. A beautiful, expensive, empty gesture from a woman who was legally married t