The Miller Curse: A Broken Vow

. The distant sound of applause was a muffled roar, mocking me. I leaned against the

fool. I saw my reflection in a decorative mirror on the wall. My makeup was p

tisfaction. I took a deep, shuddering breath and repe

hlo

shut. I didn't want to see him

look on his face. It wasn't triumph. It was something else. Guilt, m

r. "I know this is

lmost laughed. It was b

hange everything. My proposal to Sarah... it' s for business. Her famil

truggling to process the s

still be together. In private. Sarah is young, she' ll do as she' s told. You can stil

ing, after publicly humiliating me, he was proposing that I become hi

snapped me out of my shock. A cold, ha

I whispered, my voic

bout your family' s... issue. Without me, your career is stalled. That big museum project you want? My family is

im in a moment of vulnerability years ago, a secret I had trusted him

e words barely audible. "How

insisted, his voice rising. "I' m offering you a way out! A wa

ng," I said, my voice low and steady. "I would rather face a hundred

wasn't going to break down and beg. I was

ut don' t come crying to me when you turn thirty and everything falls apart. Sarah was ri

is time to a look of feigned concern. "Chloe, please.

y arm, trying to

say another word. There was nothing left to say. I just lo

y back on him a

t into the cool night air. I could feel his eyes on my back, and for the first time, his ga

he had destroyed. The pain was still there, a gaping wound in my chest, but f