His Secret Life, My Shattered Dreams

nd them, excluding everyone else. Chloe' s words had ripped open a curtain, revealing a hidden stage where a different version of Emmett played

s a whirlwind, piecing together fragments of Emmett's past that now made a terrifying kind of sense. His occasional late nights, explained away as "client dinners" or "project deadlin

ched them, respecting what I thought was his desire to leave that part of his life behind. Now, I wondered i

puzzle with a missing piece, and that piece was Keeley. My heart ached, a deep, hollow pain that settled i

pered something into her ear that made her laugh, a bright, melodic sound that seemed to echo through the theater. He had never looked at me with such unrestrained adoration, not even

vice, often steering me towards more "marketable" genres. He never shared this raw, unrestrained passion for my creative endeavors. It was a

ant. They waved to the audience, a united front, two halves of a whole. And I, his wife, sat in the dark, a silent witness to a bond

onally glancing at me with a triumphant smile. I, however, felt a leaden weight in my stomach, each mil

unnaturally bright, forcing a lightness I didn't feel. I wanted to break the

had to step up." He shrugged, as if it were the most natural thing in t

ke ash in my mouth. "I didn't realize you were s

in college. She just brought them to life." He paused, a wistful look on his face. "Poor Keeley, she

my stomach churn. It wasn't just "Keeley." It was "Keeley," whispered with an intimacy that belonged to lovers, not

ething that would tear me apart if I ever heard it? And when he said my name, "Hazel," did he truly see me, or was he seeing a placeholder, a convenient wife who fit neatly into the successful architec