ing blanket. I sat on my couch in the dark, my apartment feeling like

let it ring three times before I answere

ry, that meeting ran so late. You wouldn't believe these

n crawl. It was all a performance,

you," I said,

'm still tied up. Can I come over in the

me." The demand was sharp, out of character

, Sarah, I can't right now. The connecti

t you look like.

t," he said, his voice shifting into

do it,

in his voice. "I'm in the middle of closing

was with them. With his wife and child. He couldn't risk me s

infinity. I had designed it to represent a love that was whole, without a separate side, without a

d and dead. "Don't bother coming over

before he

uary. Now it felt contaminated. My eyes landed on the framed architectural sketch on the wall, the first projec

w just a blueprint for a lie. Every line I had drawn, every hour I

expertise. When his startup was just an idea, I helped him draft the business plan. I

later. "Sarah, what's going on?

y, meaningless sounds he used as tools. His love was a lie. His pro

future. He had stolen my money. He had taken my financial security, the safety net I had built for myself through years of hard work, and used it to fund his double life. He was paying for his wife