The Affair That Cost Everything

es into a suitcase when the front

riefcase onto the bed with a weary sigh.

Are you goin

of annoyance crossed his face. He h

id, my voice carefully neutral. I folded a sil

needed to be on my own ground, backed by my own s

den? You haven't seen them in years. Just se

splash of cold water. That was

looking at him. "Where were you,

fort. "Just some early meetings. You know how it is." He ran a hand

. He said it so easily, as if

ce softening with a sympathy he never showed

ers that grew cold, the excuses he gave about work. All this time, I had supported his ambition, believing in his dreams, which I thoug

of it all wa

a had just struck him. "We never got to take those wedding photos we t

uggestion was so absurd, so completely deta

ed to?" I repeate

c poses, the tangible proof of our love to hang on our walls. He was always too busy, always had an excuse. "Next month, Chloe.

to the storm brewing inside

dangled it like a carrot, a prize to be awarded when he felt ge

closing the suitcase. The clic

d, and a little annoyed, like a child whos

u today? I'm trying t

ired,

ored with my mood. "

othering to ask anything more. The argument

ttled over me. It was a weariness that went bone-deep, the cum

a mistake. It wa

and walked out the do

at a high-end photography studio,

is," the photographer said, adjusting

My hair and makeup were flawless. For the first time in a long time, I saw myself not as Liam's wi

here. An hour passed. He neve

wasn't even hurt anymo

I told the photographer with a serene sm

hing joy of a bride, but with the quiet c

a portrait of me, alone and smiling. The date was printed

to the end o