The Betrayal That Broke Me

from Sarah. I had been staying in a small, anonymous

but morbid curiosity

ruined the vibe of the photoshoot. He said he couldn't g

ound, so completely detached from reality, that for a moment I felt nothing but a strange, disembodied ca

nt of unwanted memories flood

day. Three

ne hour late. Then two. Guests were whispering, my best man was trying t

ly messy. "Traffic was a nightmare," she'd said, offering a bri

ic. She had been with Jake. He was an old flame, someone she'd known before me. On the morning of our wedding, he had show

lover's arms to c

deep I hadn't even seen th

first, it was small things. "Forgetting" to call on her birthday. Making exc

Sarah's annoyance b

d complain every time I asked. "It's so depre

the end. Mom had a bad fall. I called Sarah fr

'd said, her voice flat.

arah! My mother is

! You're always so focused on y

that night. I begged her to come wit

ne, not even looking at me. "I'm not wast

-in-law! Have you no decency?" I grabbed h

ou touch me! She' s a burden, Alex! A sick, old woman w

nned into silence by t

hospital, holding my mother's hand, reading to her, while my nights were spent s

They documented everything, their smiling faces a constant, mocking presence on my screen. I was living in a steri

ory was seared into m

rely conscious, but she kept whi

.. is s

after everything, s

rah one last time. My hands were trembli

" she answered,

ce raw. "She wants to see you. Please, Sa

ther end of the line. Then she said

her to die faster so I don't have

r on spe

d cruel, filled the

looked at me. There was no pain in her expression, no anger.

and, a faint, bar

n she w

e room. I stood there, phone still pressed to my ear, list

red her. She had deli