The Truth Set Her Free

te from her drafting class, her mi

familiar lines and angles on the page feeling more

oom and found Chloe sitting

Chloe said, her voic

was wo

leanor said, set

o tired fo

a sly smile pla

revealing a dark, purplish

ick

placed, a flag plant

eep him company," Chloe purred, her fin

ly when you'r

eath caught i

tant display of her husband's bet

sight like this woul

ly fight, and in the end, he would have twisted it, gaslighted her,

lar and he had convinced her it was from a clumsy colleague

t felt a wav

then at the mark on her neck, and she

t her batt

little drama, and sh

nor said, her voice

walked away, he

them the satisfac

ar: her studies, her

llow in the

ew world for herself, one

ome with shopping bags from a

Chloe, his voice f

rs as he presented Chloe with a beautifu

" Chloe gushed, holding th

ouldn't

he said, his eyes

Eleanor a gift with suc

ys last-minute, impersonal t

so blatant it wa

wore the new dress a

miniscing about their childhood, sharing in

a life that had run parallel to El

ing at her food, feeling lik

ghost at t

she went to their bedro

s arm around her,

lately," he murmured, hi

visceral wave of revu

r, the same hands that had tou

ed away

tired

sleep in th

" he asked, his

wrong wi

space," she said,

ok at him as

to see the false c

ehind her, the click of the lock

he bed, the clean

heard the soft creak of f

ckening certainty,

ing to Ch

he truly loved, leaving

rst time, Elea

hi

e was a step that brought Elea