Their Tears, My Sweet Revenge

on to recover my strength and say my goodbyes. It was a courtesy, a way to close a twenty-year c

a ghost. The place that had been my home was now j

I had painstakingly cultivated over the years. They were my

it me from behind. I gasped, stum

there, holding a garden hose,

t sounding sorry at al

powerful jet of water tearing the delicate white bell

ping the hose. "I told Mark I want roses her

ching the destruction of the one t

saw me, dripping and muddy, and the ruined

ook at you. Can' t even stand in

sbehaving child. He wrapped an arm around Sarah, pulling her

ed my knee in this very garden, and Mark had carried me all the way inside, scolding me gently for being careless whi

lothes clinging to my skin. I fo

my books, my photo albums-were pi

under his arm. He looked at the pi

flat. "We' ve moved your things. You' ll be staying i

ued, not a flicker of remorse in his eyes. "Sarah' s going to take over yo

ee and hard work, was being handed to a housekeeper' s daugh

way. I saw my childhood teddy bear, a worn, one-eyed thing

avid walked over, picked u

el grin playing on his lips. He looked at S

k and hid her face in Mark'

ng exploded outwards like a sad, white cloud. He then ripped off its

d to Sarah. "The

ng it rolling across the polished

t me. Twenty years of memories, torn apart in seconds,

thread of affection I

m the destroyed bear.

and devoid of emotion. "I won' t be needing

single, clean shirt fro

' m resigning from the compa

going to go? Don' t be ridiculous, Olivia. You' re a parasite. You' ve lived off

fend myself. I just walked pa

sed him,

time," I said quietly, n

he entire pile of my past life lying