The Lies She Built

smashed my wo

rom my face, thinking about dinne

been an accident invo

y. Out on his DashEats route,

I choked out,

the other end

to come to Co

ilting. My workshop, usually a p

for my phone again, hands shak

old family debts, how we were barely scraping by. My carpentry, her job, it was never e

you've reached Kate. I'm at a critical le

l confere

again. V

in. Voi

son. Count

workshop, leaving

, sterile. A tired-lo

dn't make it. Hit-and-run.

n my ears was the only sound. Ethan,

gain, my thumb hitting re

up. Noise in the backg

le of something really important h

voice cracking. "It's Et

you well, this reception is terrible. Loo

uc

Kate. Etha

e was reading lines. "Look, Mike, I... I can't just leave. Thi

felt she owed something huge to, something about him "saving" her in h

hung

t of the hospital.

my phone, a meaningless habit. An Instagram story popped u

osh. They were at a fancy vineyard, crystal glasses in hand. Josh, smug a

h's bright future! What a sen

ad. My wife w