ia's

s Earlie

weight in my chest. My legs trembled beneath the heavy fabric of

t beneath her words. "Richard is a good man. He'll take care of you. And stop dreaming if you think Daniel is coming back. He's lo

op, to turn and run as fast as I could. But where would I go? Back to my empty childhood

idn't even have

nowhere to r

ser to the altar. And there he was-Rich

churned as I forced myself to meet his gaze. His grey-gold eyes locked onto mine, sharp

aid, his voice

roat felt tight, as though the satin ribbon of

ony. I barely heard the words, barely registered the murmurs of approval from the small crowd behind

e shallow smiles of polite s

ctly where I was told on a che

ake Richard Liam to be you

pulse thundered in my ears. I couldn't speak.

o rip off the gown and burst through t

d under her breath, her n

choice. If I didn't do this, I'd be out on

whispered, my v

caved. It felt like I'd signed a contract

smile gr

istant. He left early in the mornings for work and came back late in the evenings. He brought me flowers and small

bout him. Maybe the unease I'd felt on our

Slowly, like cracks s

me home and found the dinner I'

his tone colder than I'd ev

ding at the table, startled. "It's

ening. "Do you even care about what I like? Or

yself to stay calm. "I thought you liked thi

ed, his voice rising. "You're my wife

wallowing the l

scalated

n one of his work papers. It was a mistake-just a clums

his hand on the table so hard that I flinched.

ickly, my voice shakin

fix incompetenc

the ground and stormed out,

ed wasn't the polite stranger from our first days together. That version of Richard had b

every word I spoke, I measured carefully. I avoided anything that might trig

ard the sound of glass shattering from downstairs. My

s voice thundered

n the living room, I found him standing ove

manded, pointing at t

tammered. "It must have

anything, do you?" he hissed, s

ck, my ches

ant, something insid

life. This was

ing-my freedom, my dre

I was nothing more than an object to

realized I couldn't keep living like this. But the question

raw came two

pectedly early. His footsteps echoed down the hall befo

you doing?

said cautiously, sens

can't even keep the house clean, and now you're

been arranging and hurled it to the floor. The clatter

hands shaking, and some

, my voice barel

he asked, his tone d

my fear replaced by a simmer

er of uncertainty in his eyes. But it was

nd I knew this confrontation would