His Betrayal, Her Unveiling

pen. She didn't have time to register the face of the person stan

, her hand flying to her temple, her ears ringing with a low, persistent hum. Through the swimming spots in her vision, she saw a

ieked, her voice high and panicked. "I'm ca

e, handcrafted silver hairpin, shaped like a gingko leaf. Ava' s breath caught in her throat. She had bought that pin for herself in a small art

cked shouts, Ava staggered into her apartm

her apartm

y a nightmare of vibrant pinks and fluffy textures. Cheap, garish posters of pop stars covered the walls where her original abstract paintings used to hang. Her custom-made It

ecration of the space she had pour

reamed, grabbing Ava's arm. "This is

horrifying possibilities. She stumbled towards her home office, the room that was the heart

ty bottles of foundation stood where her large oak drafting table had been. Her high-end architectural software

These were her life's work, years of creativity and relentless effort, treated like garbage. Tucked behind them, crumpled and stained with what looked like spilled coffee, was a garment bag. With trembling ha

f her and Liam, smiling on a beach in Greece. It had been torn in half. She rummaged through the trash and found more of them-dozens of their sh