The funeral was a quiet affair, a stark contrast to the life I'd just left. My husband, David, stood solemn, but I saw the hollow impatience in his eyes, checking his watch. My death was an inconvenience. They said I was forgotten, a ghost even before I died, especially by my sister Clara, whose theatrical sobs hid dry eyes. The memory of our 30th anniversary crash ripped through me: the screech of tires, then waking to the truth of David' s affair, messages from his lover filling the phone recovered from the wreckage. This knowledge was poison. The whispers at my funeral confirmed it all: "She never got over the scandal, forced into marriage." "Clara was the one he always wanted." The shame, the loneliness, the empty decades-they were all mine. So, I decided the end would be mine too. Back in our cold house, I filled the tub, laid out the sleeping pills, and swallowed them, one by one. There was no hesitation. This was a quiet act of surrender. Then, I gasped awake. Sunlight blinded me. The air smelled of lemon polish and old books, a scent not smelled in years. I was in the bed from our first apartment, my hands smooth and unlined. The mirror showed a young woman of twenty-two. The calendar read: October 1982. Three months into my marriage. David stood in the doorway, impossibly young, impossibly remote. "My mother wants us for dinner. Be ready by seven." His voice was the same, cold and transactional. At the Vance family dinner, my parents and Clara echoed the old accusations. "Eleanor, you must be making David happy. You know how much our family owes the Vances." I finally shattered the silence. "Trying my best? Is that what you call forcing your daughter into marriage to protect your reputation?" I looked directly at my father, my voice steady. "I' m done being the family scapegoat. You wanted this marriage, not me."
The funeral was a quiet affair, a stark contrast to the life I'd just left. My husband, David, stood solemn, but I saw the hollow impatience in his eyes, checking his watch.
My death was an inconvenience. They said I was forgotten, a ghost even before I died, especially by my sister Clara, whose theatrical sobs hid dry eyes.
The memory of our 30th anniversary crash ripped through me: the screech of tires, then waking to the truth of David' s affair, messages from his lover filling the phone recovered from the wreckage. This knowledge was poison.
The whispers at my funeral confirmed it all: "She never got over the scandal, forced into marriage." "Clara was the one he always wanted." The shame, the loneliness, the empty decades-they were all mine.
So, I decided the end would be mine too. Back in our cold house, I filled the tub, laid out the sleeping pills, and swallowed them, one by one. There was no hesitation. This was a quiet act of surrender.
Then, I gasped awake. Sunlight blinded me. The air smelled of lemon polish and old books, a scent not smelled in years. I was in the bed from our first apartment, my hands smooth and unlined. The mirror showed a young woman of twenty-two.
The calendar read: October 1982. Three months into my marriage. David stood in the doorway, impossibly young, impossibly remote. "My mother wants us for dinner. Be ready by seven." His voice was the same, cold and transactional.
At the Vance family dinner, my parents and Clara echoed the old accusations. "Eleanor, you must be making David happy. You know how much our family owes the Vances." I finally shattered the silence.
"Trying my best? Is that what you call forcing your daughter into marriage to protect your reputation?" I looked directly at my father, my voice steady. "I' m done being the family scapegoat. You wanted this marriage, not me."
Introduction
30/06/2025
Chapter 1
30/06/2025
Chapter 2
30/06/2025
Chapter 3
30/06/2025
Chapter 4
30/06/2025
Chapter 5
30/06/2025
Chapter 6
30/06/2025
Chapter 7
30/06/2025
Chapter 8
30/06/2025
Chapter 9
30/06/2025
Chapter 10
30/06/2025
Chapter 11
30/06/2025
Chapter 12
30/06/2025
Chapter 13
30/06/2025
Chapter 14
30/06/2025
Chapter 15
30/06/2025
Chapter 16
30/06/2025
Chapter 17
30/06/2025
Chapter 18
30/06/2025
Chapter 19
30/06/2025
Chapter 20
30/06/2025
Chapter 21
30/06/2025
Chapter 22
30/06/2025
Chapter 23
30/06/2025
Chapter 24
30/06/2025
Chapter 25
30/06/2025
Chapter 26
30/06/2025
Chapter 27
30/06/2025
Chapter 28
30/06/2025
Chapter 29
30/06/2025
Chapter 30
30/06/2025
Chapter 31
30/06/2025
Chapter 32
30/06/2025
Chapter 33
30/06/2025
Chapter 34
30/06/2025
Chapter 35
30/06/2025
Chapter 36
30/06/2025
Chapter 37
30/06/2025
Chapter 38
30/06/2025
Chapter 39
30/06/2025
Other books by Gavin
More