Reclaiming Her Empire

t harsh. It was setting on a life I no longer reco

ooked up from her tab

st class for Mr. Cole and Ms. Davis to New York, b

, my voi

avis's ticket is on the same flight as Mr. Cole's.

handle the det

ter, the room filled with half

he doorframe, arms

ew York thing or not? Chloe needs to know

o, he had firs

t pre-launch. It just makes sense for her to c

ng the weather, not like he was su

vase, the one we bought on our honeymoon

sterical, unsuppor

stood the pressures.

at him, a strange c

doing New York. A

is face, so quickly

erstand. It' s for the compan

ing smile that used t

ly excited. She' s young, adaptable. She reminds me of ho

F," "before you couldn't giv

ore I wasn't

ed a diffe

dreams for a tech startup, living on

o passionate

l on the steps of the UT Tower, a h

d spend his life

iny apartment, worked two jobs sometimes,

les, and shared dreams in a c

ock options. "For my partner in crime," he'd said, kissing me a

e worth a fortune

had been bruta

Davis, who started

the luxury downtown Austin

bags, jewelry, things he h

s, late-night

while I was injecting myself with horm

s old, public Instagram, from

n: "So happy for my amazing boss and his beautif

t. At the time, I thought no

e through my heart. A pu

h dates, with the sheer weight of his deception,

Chloe is a friend. She'

riend you take on trips you tol

ning a hand through hi

n all this, Ava. S

cruelty, the j

. You' re always stressed. We

You' re always so stres

ask you to. And we tried for a baby, it

mbition," my "obsession" w

ne who understood his new

after one such argument, a list of baby names

d torn it int

called Dr. Chen, my

made the a

lly pregnant, after the

ise him, to see that

Chloe, I couldn' t. I could

The stress, he said, contributed to my fertility issues.

re a blur of suppressed pa

ork, about Chloe joining us, a

kground noise. Sleeples

one af

owing up at our Aust

s "for Ethan." Re

a gift from him, while I still c

repared" lunch.

allergic to she

n just loves my shrimp salad." Her

snapped. I sla

ct moment. Chloe burst into

Ethan! She hates tha

n me, his face

loe is trying to be nice, and this is how you treat her? Ma

absolute end. M

e discreet desk calendar

of their planned de

ed marking o

Two.

y own departure.