ting hit her frozen skin, making her itch. The butler, an older man with a perpetually stoic

y, still wearing her silk blouse, not caring that the water ruined the expensive fabric. She stood there for an hour, scrubbing her skin until it was raw and r

le, her eyes hollow. She looked like a corpse. She opened her makeup drawer and began the ritual. Thick concealer under her eyes.

ront door beeped. Deidre was sitting on the edge of th

dalwood and vetiver-wafted in before he did. He looked i

with mild surprise before settling into his usu

answer. She ju

iming to press a perfunctory kiss to her forehead. It was a

ad. The kiss landed

second before he pulled back. A small crease for

gaze directly. "I went to the

-passed through Danial's eyes. It was gone in

lded diagnosis report digging into her palm inside her sle

ief. He reached out and patted her shoulder, the way one would pat a dog. "D

t a hospital, setting up trust funds and kissing another woman's pregnant belly. Here, he w

jacket, Deidre's eyes zeroed in on his collar. Stuck to the dark fabric,

a's

back, violent and sudden. She shot up f

ttered, practically ru

ter, breathing heavily through the nausea. She poured a glass of

e looked up. It was Danial's phone. The screen lit up with a

vanished. He snatched the phone off the table and walked qui

id, his voice

was clenched. He ran a hand through his hair, a nervous habit he only had when things were spiraling out of

it and turned around. His face was a mask of st

s in Wall Street," he said, adjusting his c

nt of him. She looked up at his face, searching for a crack, a hint of guilt. Then, she d

he word was barely audib

ry her fingers off; he just gave her a look of cold disdain. "Deidre, don't be chil

. Her voice was steady, but the tremor in

d sharp, dangerous.

essed, her grip tightening on his

eaned down, his face inches from hers. "Are you having a paranoid episode? Because if you'r

rk eyes, and she saw nothing but emptiness. No love.

ed his tie, his lip curling in disgust. "

ed out. The front door slammed

uder than before. She walked slowly to the floor-to-ceiling window and looked

g them away. She pulled out her phone and opened the calendar. Tomor

niversary of

er heart. It felt like her ribs were being crushed in a vise. She stumbled bac

ergency pills. She popped the cap, dumping two pills into her palm, and shoved th

n. She stared at the empty space where Danial had stood. The illusion was shattered. The man she h