My Grief, His Masterpiece

nst the wood. I ignored it, my eyes glued to the laptop screen. M

ust turn it off," she

twenty feet tall, of me sleeping. My face was turned to the side, mouth slightly open, a line of d

part of "Raw Truths," Ethan's new, celebrated exhibition. My estranged husband, the celebrated

d it a "brutally honest explorati

omething else. #EthanThe

restorm. Half of them called him a monster, a vi

participant in my own degradation. They did

ation, a loop of my voice from an old voicemail, crying after a fight we had. The audio was distorted, l

he caller ID was Ethan M

from the screen. "Let me handle him. As your

I trailed off. My husband. The man I ha

ard who is using you. Aga

eeded to hear his voice, to understand the why. I ended the video call

iced calm that always set my teeth on

ice shaking with a rage that felt cold a

nsion in his tone was a physical blow. "It's a success. The cr

on display for the entire world! You're sellin

ing. "The public is just having a knee-jerk reaction. They don't understand the artistic sacrifi

"Good. I hope they do. I hope the

're going to fix this. You're going to issue a public statement. You'll say you were a wil

I spat. "I will tell ever

s just thinking about your grandmother. How is S

me of hard work. She knew Ethan and I had separated, but she didn't know the details. She certainly didn't know we'd been secretly married for fi

to this," I warned, my

a matter of time before they knock on her door with a camera and a tablet showing her my art. Showing h

attered to the floor. The threat hung in the air, thick a

of passion and creativity. We got married in secret at a courthouse, high on love and cheap champagne, believing our bond was stronger than any convention. But the lines blurred. Our life became his material. The first time was a short film he made, using a recording of us making love as the s

ut on a global scale. He had taken our sh

sacrificing the last shred of my dignity. My hands were shaking so badly I coul

"It's your grandma. She collapsed. We're at the hospi

he air left my lungs in a painf