Caldwe

night followed a str

Arrived at Fiona's apartmen

up her medication. W

rescribed sedatives. I will

im having dinner with Fiona on my birthday. I had thought that knowing his exact whereab

ting me, she would invent a ne

ght p

AM ar

s stopped

driver, and the doorman of Fiona' s building. Once, I had even driven to her apartment complex in the middle of a thunderstorm, pounding on her door for

0 AM, Fiona called claiming she saw a spider in her bathtub and had passed out from terror. Hudson left me standing

urs late, his shirt smelling of Fiona' s sweet vanilla perfume, because Fiona h

ntine's Day, watching the snow fall on cold steaks, while Hudson drove Fiona to the to

very single time, I was expected to understa

my phone s

s number, but it containe

a gray suede couch, his face turned toward the cam

shirt, holding a mug of chamomile tea, her eyes wide and innocent, with the caption: He was

photos for exact

en accelerate. I felt the cold, clean detachment of so

a reply:

hone number, blocked Fiona's number, and blocked

turned off the lamp, and slept sou

l coat, pulled my dark hair into a neat low bun, and called

the entire fire department that he would protect me with his life and fortune. For twenty years, he had treated me like a princess, funding

t disappear like a thief in the night with

e wrought-iron gates of

the front door with a warm smile. "Miss Emerson! You're here early. Master Erne

marble threshold

"She came with Master Hudson. She said she needed to apolog

The heavy double doors of the gro

knock, Fiona' s trembling, tearf

ress if Hudson didn't sign the wedding registry this week. Hudson was under immense stress, and when he saw me having an asthma attack, he just wanted to make sure I didn't die. Emerson has

my desperation as corporate sabotage, turning a broken re

had never understood where they came from. I had spent months trying to explain myself to Ernesto,

s just throwing another tantrum. She is impulsive and acts without thinking about the

heavy mahog