Love's Ashes, A Bitter Price

“The world saw my husband, Kaden, as a tragic hero, honor-bound to me while his heart belonged to his childhood sweetheart, Cali. I believed it too, willing to endure the pain for his sake. On our anniversary, he came home with her. He didn't just ignore the special dinner I'd made; he grabbed the tablecloth and sent our entire anniversary meal crashing to the floor in a deafening shatter of crystal and porcelain. He pinned me against the wall, his kiss brutal, whispering that hurting me was how he tortured her. This became our life. He gave her a replica of my late mother's most precious gift. On the anniversary of our first baby's death, he left me grieving to comfort Cali because her cat had died. When he returned, he threw the tiny booties I had knitted for our son into the fire. I lost another pregnancy-twins this time. In the hospital, he abandoned me to go play tennis with her because she was bored. The final straw was when Cali scattered our twins' ashes to the wind. He saw my pain, heard my screams, and defended her. "Unintentional harm is not a crime, Joyce," he said. In that moment, the woman he knew as Joyce died. I took the pills that would erase her forever, allowing me-Iris-to take control.”