The Monster in My Marriage

Ava began her se

ury, but a cold resolve was setting in

s usual peck on her che

she' d seen him idly spin the combination lock on his private safe once, distracted o

e turned the dial. Click.

sn't just bus

ered wooden box.

ns of them. Of So

a beach, Sophia looking ethereal. Candid sho

re Ava' s mother got sick. This was no fle

photos, sh

en a down payment for a luxury condo in Sophia' s name. A

ts linked to Sophia or her family' s businesses. Busines

vely bankrolling Sophia's life, proppin

afe, under a pile of old sto

la env

ocument. An organ do

rah Wi

he next-of-kin signature w

wasn't her

ut undeniably fake. The slant was wr

his monstrous betrayal. He hadn' t just manipulated the

availability of Sophia's mother's transplant – i

ne: the pictures of Sophia, the receipts, the bank

symbol of love or partnership. It was a brand, marking her as the wife of

et out. Far

gan to