His Loss, Her Lasting Love

een my pale face and Chloe' s look of feigned conce

're right. Ava, you should go home and rest. Chlo

f everyone. And he was doing it with my own well-being as the excuse. The pain w

quiet, clean snap. The part of me that had held on, that had hoped, that had loved him, simply cea

n the kitchen counter. It wasn't

ittle piece

y

it made me think of you. You once told me you loved the color of the sunse

g of yo

en pal. The humanitarian aid worker I' d been writing to for over a year, a man I' d never met but who knew me better

ly, my fingers flyi

Thank you. It brought

ns or empty platitudes. He just shared a piece of his world, a simple, thoughtf

l rang. It was Mark. He stood o

o push past me into the apartment. T

hing to talk

You can't just request a tr

here. With Chloe. I'm

s. Not hurt. Not regret. Annoyance. H

e of that email guy? The charity

He couldn't comprehend that I would

aid, my voice cold. "And

alize what you've thrown away." He looked me up and down, a smirk playing on his lips. "You're going to need

ent refining his proposals, all the clients I' d won for the team, all the

he eye. "I'm not going to

I'm quitting. And I'm m

the click of the lock the swe