The Jilted Lover's Fierce Comeback
t tableau of deception, and the thought was as clear as glass in my mind. The love I felt for my grandmother was real, solid
g chasm between us. The air in th
ked over to me, her expression shiftin
lders. In my past life, her touch would have been an anchor. Now, it felt like a cage. "
eaction, for any flicker of th
r voice carefully measured. "That maybe we haven' t been paying eno
eem self-aware while reinforcing their narrative
"Let' s get out of here. Just the three of us. We planned a surprise for you. For your
arlight Drive-in theater, my favorite place as a kid, to play a movie marathon of my f
ude. Now, I just felt a weary sense of resignation. The ge
The easiest path, for now, was to play along. Let th
t, noncommitta
d, a brilliant, triumphant smile. "Great!
g bikes down this very street. Chloe, with scraped knees and a fearless grin. Brooke, always a few steps behind,
d my house. We shared secrets und
source of pride, became a source of crippling debt. I had to sell off assets piece by piece just to keep the lights on, to keep Grandma
e and Brooke were th
e and Brooke took her under their wing. I see it now, the way they were with her. I
s classic car collection to pay a hospital bill. I was devastated. I confessed
. "You' re doing what
ce you get to Stanford and start your co
hey weren' t talking about me. They were talking about Zoe, about how they' d used some of the mo
oe had whispered. "He has s
myself I was being paranoid, that the
d friends to Zoe. It was about taking from me to give to her. It was a p
heir bank. And the bank was