The Fifth Anniversary

d the house. I had spent the afternoon preparing it,

ftly. Everything was perfect, or so I thought. I called his name, but

f the banister. Our bedroom door was slightly ajar. I pushed it o

his arms, her clothes a mess on our floor. My floor. The shock was a physical blow, kno

rambled away from her. The woman, Chloe Bell, just look

barely audible, a thread of sound

eyes fixed on the floor. "I

en sound. "You're in our bed with another woman on

sickly sweet. "He needed som

n I had loved, the man I had built a life

n. "I was tired, Ava. Tired of the disappointment, the doctors, the endless trying.

s young. She makes me feel aliv

t had stolen my ability to conceive, as his excuse. He was blaming me for his betrayal. The heartbr

together after my accident. The roasted chicken downstairs, the flicker

s of "in sickness and in health," and the words tasted like ash in my mouth. He had held my hand through my reco

clumsy. He didn't come to me, didn't try to comfort me. Inst

reated me like I was an intruder in my own home, in my own life. The sight of his gentle

ore inside me, but it was focused now. I looked at Liam, truly looked at him, and saw a stranger. A weak,

aid, my voice

's talk a

off, my gaze shifting to Chloe. "Bot

een before. It was the end. He grabbed Chloe's clothes from the floor and th

s world to the ground. The first call I would m