iller

ng silence that filled the space between us on the plush leather seats

n attempt to bridge the chas

lled my hand away, pretending to smooth a non-existent wrinkle in my dress. The ghost of another man's name, Li

thought I was pouting. He was confident, as

Fifth Avenue penthouse,

ed, slipping out of my heels.

rst time in eight years, I locked the d

uition. On impulse, an act of pure self-destruction, I opened Instagram on m

oe V

s, shopping sprees in Paris, endless selfies. I scrolled down, my thumb m

a restaurant bathroom, applying lipstick. The captio

od ran

board, searching for the brand and the shade. The screen lit up with a de

myself, the words a desperate

w the way she stood a little too close to Ethan at a charity gala last month. The proprietary hand on his arm at a polo match. The way he

at the breakfast table was

t. "I saw Chloe at the gala last night. That

look up, but I saw his hands pause on the paper. "Why a

siveness. It was a tiny crack in his armor, but it was there. I remembered a friend joking weeks ago, "Ch

said, letting

up at all. "I have an early meeting at the office." He kissed t

agram. My heart was pounding, a sick, frantic rhyt

lose-up of

ut sapphire sparkling under the light. The caption was sicke

felt the air leave

lifted m

ist, was the id

oice, thick with emotion, as he fastened the clasp. "The cut of this sto