A Final Goodbye, A Lasting Mark

Brya

hurts you," she had said, her eyes misty as she adjusted my veil, "you come right home. Your room will always be your room." It was a

ed the wife of the successful architect, the woman whose life affirmed her ow

forgive this? It felt less like a rough patch and more like a gaping chasm had

asleep on the sofa, still in my jeans, the c

ilent, still empty. My phone screen lit up the room, the g

her voice a rapid-fire burst of energy.

I said, my voice thick wi

ot. Because I'm st

d. "What are you

on. And guess who's at the corner table, flashing his Amex Bla

hut. I didn't want t

He just bought her a diamond tennis bracelet from the boutique in the lobby. I

year. For my last birthday, he' d handed me a credit card and told me to "get myself something nice." The

professionally confrontational, and fiercely protective of me. "I'm going to pour this

h my chest at her loyalty. For the first time all night, I

sn't! He's hum

"Corinne... I think I'm

ir, tasting foreign and

again, her voice was soft. "Are you okay? Do y

fallout, all for me. I couldn't be that burden. "No, I

her reluctance. "But you call me if you

ea

.. it's Kiersten Low

rked with, someone he admired professionally, twisted the knife deeper. Clayton had always been a man of immense professional integrity. He despised office politics and in

any more," I said quic

call you in

cation lit up my phone. It

unt has been charged $18,

was at home, sick and worried, he was spending the equival

pelled me into action. I dialed his number, my hands

d on the s

yed. In the background, I could hear the fai

?" I asked, my voic

you talk

ht Kiersten Lowe. A special occasion? Or do you just

"It's my money, A

e 'our money' the day we got married. The day I agreed to put my

ee him rolling his ey

to go freelance. You said it would give us more flexibility, that you were making more than enough for both of us, that

hosted his insufferable clients, and nursed him through every flu and work crisis

s a weapon against me. He was treating me

ice dropping to a glacial cold. "This i

rasp, hitting the rug wi

vo

ed it into a cold, hard reality. I had contemplated leaving him, but I

his new life, a life I was no longer a part of. The piano music at the bar

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