An Atonement of Love
s cold, a manufactured chill that had n
lass walls, a stark contrast to the sp
the enormous living room, her han
am now felt like a stranger's museum, full
his back to her, staring out at the
d at her once s
ed between them, he
line of his shoulders,
ief and anger, and she
er, with plans for the future, with the easy comfort o
t was
upt, so violent, it
d, her voice ba
st word spoken
dn't
you wan
oid of the affection th
. I wante
hesitant st
nothing to soften
my fa
said, his voice finally cutting th
estroyed my family. He
t her like p
ow him. You know he would ne
m," Liam said, final
her, were now icy and filled with a
I thought I
flin
rsistent ache that had become h
ing to hide the wince that
show him any
at?" she pleaded, h
together. Ou
families," he snapped,
, and his anger made
father is dead. He couldn't ha
s her, his face a
sed in, he ruined my father's reputation to save himsel
, tears finally breaking fre
s a
, so close she could feel th
t her, his expre
ding in my home, pretending you
out a stack of papers, throwing them o
th numbers and legal jarg
there. Your father's signatur
from the papers
can'
a harsh, bi
you're jus
rately, reached f
was cold
mond engagement ri
diamond they had picked out toget
of thei
and forefinger for a moment
e let i
ble floor with a sha
room, a final, definitive punctu
op near the leg of the sofa, its brilliant s
g of a promise, the shatt
ring, a sob caug
ldn't b
thing compared to the agony
again," Liam said, his vo
dle the annulment. G
t move, cou
dy was
fe was
attack brought on by the shock and grief, and now Liam, the
inally managed to cho
e nowhere to go. Everythi
home had
ccounts we
utterl
m," he said, turning
of that before your famil
!" she screamed, the desperation
ove
't even
worthless. I
poured himself a drink, his mo
, cutting her out of his l
zziness wash
g intensified, a s
the sofa for support, h
s one la
esperate ca
hiding, the terror sh
id, her voice
g else. Something
p of his whiskey,
sted in any mor
sick,
heavy and forei
eally
even bothering
ying to get my sympa
words stole the a
shaking so violently she could bar
out and held i
she wh
not a
r, staring ou
leave,
g a stumbling step closer and placing
eas
ted sigh, he fin
l report, his eyes scan
or a flicker of the man she onc
his expressi
s eyes n
osarcoma. Aggressive. R
the paper, his e
shock, no con
a cold, calcula
ack onto the bar as i
voice dripping with d
report? You'll stoop to anything, won't yo
utterly divorced from reality, tha
ght went o
she had clung to di
't beli
ve liar, capable of faking a te
mptiness set
he air in the room, a void
ly hat
gone, it had been poisoned, twisted
, his face hard
ieved she wa
er family had
space for doubt, only the searing pain of his own
nt who had whispered these poisons into his ear, was
idn't kno
t of her, the love of her life,
e diagnosis he refused to believe