Her Betrayal, My Cold Resolve

en able to sleep in our bed, in the room I shared with a monster. Sarah c

igned patience. "David, we need to talk. I know you' re upset. I w

ion. She was playing a part, trying to manage the situation, to smooth things over so she c

pond. I just

lat and dead, "I' d like to go throug

ced it with a sad smile. "Oh, honey. You don' t have to

ched a live wire. "What do y

she said, stumbling over the word. "They cleared out her room. It was t

st her, up the stairs. I pushed

tories, the toy box overflowing with stuffed animals-it was all gone. The room was sterile, empty, as if Lily had never existed

he had done this on the day of Lily' s funeral. While I was buryi

rah was sipping her coffee,

y voice barely a whisper. "Whe

ld you, it was peaceful. The doctor said it was

d, needing to know, needing to h

ring yourself. She was a child. She probably didn' t ev

frantically. She was in the Swiss "clinic" with Sarah. She looked

the doctors here will make me all better. Then we can go to o

my own voice thick with tears I tried to

e words like stones in my mouth. "She tho

elirious from the medication. It'

llow space where my heart used to b

s a rendezvous with Mark, I went to the storage unit where the disposal service had t

her half-finished coloring books. The scent of her-that faint, sweet smell of baby soap and innocence

ved before I met Sarah. I still kept the lease on my old one-bedroom unit. I' d told Sarah it was

the living room, just as she liked it. I placed her teddy bear on the pillow. I

e Lily still existed. Here, surrounded by her things, I could breathe. I could feel her presence, her love. It w

he life Sarah had tried to throw away. When I finally drove

, black sports car I didn' t recognize. I walked in the front door and immediately saw them in the ent

tened in my stomach. I wa

place, his back to me, was a tall, handsome man in a tailored suit

as M

"I want you to meet someone. This is Mark Johnson. An old friend. Mark was so sorry he couldn

ene. The sheer audacity of it, bringing her lover into our home, int

dead was standing in my living room, and my