Her Smile, My Burning Hell

rise for Chloe, a monument to our future. Instead, it felt like a tomb. I stood in the mar

a medical report. Not mine. It was Liam O'Connell

entence. A highly contagious, life-threatening illness. The kind that doe

nt. The exact sam

had stormed into the bedroom at this exact second. I had shove

ocked and cornered, had lunged at me. We fought. It was clumsy and pathetic. He trippe

it, she came for me. But she didn't just come for me. She took my parents, too. A staged car accident, a fire.

I remembered my mother' s screams. I remembered

would be

hloe' s expensive demands. The machine whirred to life. I fed Liam's medical rep

r secrets. Let nat

meticulously planned justice. I wouldn't be the one to expose them. I wo

ster bedroom down the hall. A low moan

as C

hat giggle. It was the one she used when she thought she was be

ble wall, my knuckles white a

She was telling me about a "charity trip" she needed to take. She needed a significant donation for the "under

h a sincerity that would make a saint feel guilty for doubting her. She had built her enti

the counter. The trauma of that fiery death was etched into my very soul, a ghost limb that ached with a pain

dn't slam the door. I closed it softly, the click of the latch sounding

was the same modest suburban home I grew up in. The porch li

the door before I even

ise! Come in, come i

ile cold of the penthouse. My father, Tom, looked up from hi

ood to

This simple, unadorned love. The

orn couch. My mother bustled

ce steadier than I expected.

me, their expression

the wedding. Chlo

What? Ethan, what happened? You two were so happy.

ted. She believed in C

slowly folded his newspaper and placed it on the coff

s voice a low rumbl

h stared at him, st

ou saying?" she

son. There was always something off about that girl. Too polish

potent it almost made me dizzy. I

him cynical and old-fashioned. I had been a fool, blinded by a carefully construc

r ag