The Agreement of Erasure

phia. Don'

s clutching the hem of her dress like a child. My vision wa

mpty. The love I used to see in her eyes was gone, r

she said, her voice fla

ldn' t work. The drug Liam had given me was a thick fog in my brain and a fire in my veins.

eard the click of the deadbolt. A sound of absolute

smooth, smug. Sophia' s was a murmur, but I could hear the moment she l

his voice dripping with condescension. "And he

eplied. "Did the investor

Sophia. And with his signature on that transfer document, there' s not

had stolen it. And Sophia...

n, until my knuckles were raw. It didn' t help. The pain was a distant echo compared to the gaping wound in my chest

my company' s name etched in steel. I was a success. More successful than Liam and Sophia could have e

cross the rush

tic hope. "Ethan, please. You have to help

plea, the same kind I had

rs had been that day. I remembered her exact wor

aid, my voice steady and

s were swallowed by the sounds of the city. I left her there

screaming. A vicious cramp seized my stomach, making me double over wi

k clicked again. She opened the do

so much noise,

clutching my stomach. "Call a

any pity. "You' re just being dramatic.

gain, leaving me in t

t, I crawled towards the wall. I pressed my forehead against the cool dry

m. Not the wall. My head. I fell back, dizzy, a warm liquid tric

her face a storm of fury. Liam was rig

she screeched. "Are you trying to k

I stammered, the word

ghtstand-the same one she' d given me the spiked drink in. Liam hande

iam said calmly. "This should

yanking my head back. She forced th

t," she

tter liquid spilled into my mouth, down my throat. I choked

head slammed back

and on her jeans as if she

she said, a

me in the suffocating darkness once more. I tried to explain what happened, to tell the