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