Waking Up to Her True Face

d Liam's cologne. The scent clung to her c

le from whatever amusement she'd found with him. I t

mumbled, pu

u're always tire

nnoyance. As if my lack of enthus

ted her, not with accusatio

y voice calm, too calm. "Yeste

she was. She'd posted a team photo on her social media a week ago. "Welcoming o

ond, genuine panic flashed in her eyes. Then, it was gon

we were discussing a projec

involve passionate kisses. Mentoring didn't usually happen w

ours?" I pressed, k

tle too brightly. "We just lost trac

as the one overreacting, imagining things. But I sa

ned. She was a go

, I did something I'd never done before. I

trol pills. Not the brand she used to use when we were actively trying

arted trying for a family, a family that never came. The misdiagnosed

. Or I was. Clearly, she had other plans. Plans that invol

n of her intentions. My resolve to leav

ew bank account with a small, untraceable deposit. Researching remote c

she listened patiently. When I told her a carefully edited version of my situation

iness-like even over the phone from London. "If you n

tism was a

day at work, a presentation had gone poorly. She

ask her wha

e, Ethan!" she snap

fee table and hurled it against the wall. It shat

n of her public image became paramount, there had been moments like this. A slammed d

ionate nature. Now, seeing it through the lens o

glass landed near my fo

, to try and de-escalate. She was

yelled when I reache

d presentation. Or maybe it wasn't about the presentation at all. Maybe it was about t

ing wife was gone. In her place was a volatile