A Wife's Vengeance, Two Lives

nding a marriage. My father, Dr. Richard Miller, sat on one side of the polished mahogany table, his posture p

pal of a prestigious private school, maintained a look of com

other, Liam, and me. We wer

he used with nervous patients before a difficult surgery. "Your mother and I have

"We want you to be happy. So, we're going t

ight. No matter what, you'll always be our children.

The choice was obvious to him, to everyone. Our father was the successful, wealthy one. Our m

hard knot of something ancient and bitter was coiled tight.

would be

meeting my father's f

ll and innocent, the voice of the ten-year-old girl I ap

mpathy. "Of course not, sweetheart. This is

rward slightly. "Your happiness is all th

ced at me. I was an afterthought, the disappointing daughter. He was certain Liam would choose him,

stretch for a beat too long. I saw the f

, my voice cle

d to my

oose

immediate and d

placed by pure, unfiltered shock. Her mouth opened slightly, but no sound came out. Liam' s smug look

It was sharp now, like a scalpel. "Don't be silly. You and Liam hav

ger asking. H

over, his voice dripping with persuasion. "The best schools, anyt

ire world in another life, the man who had d

y tone flat and unchildlike. "You said you wo

alking about gender equality and empowering young women to make their own choices. Are

career was built on that public image, and

ld see a vein pulsing at his temple. But he was in a lawyer' s offic

the chair scraping har

word clipped. He looked

oor, his movements stiff with fury. Liam looked back at me, his expression a mixture o

ched them go, my heart a

iam, use him, and shower him with his poisono

would be the one