n the lock of the

amiliar scent of dust and d

not to follow, to stay in

om, his expensive suit looking utterly out o

s she entered, his

Humiliating me in front of Chl

of emotion. "You mean the man who supervises m

work for me. It' s complicate

Elara said. She walked to the rickety table and placed the

years,

ly styled hair. "I was going to t

"After another hundred thousand? After

ing to a softer, more manipulative

money, yes. Old money. They have expectations. I wanted to

entirely a lie. It just... it became something

three jobs. You watched me come home exhausted, sometimes crying fro

ded to see if you truly

imsy, so insulting,

mall, tarnished silver

ool, sitting by the river. He' d called himself a "struggling

ng he' d found in a little antique shop. In

d whispered, fastening it around her

cere. Now, they were just anothe

er fingers fumbli

voice suddenly sharp.

acticed contrition, now glinted with

mbling slightly, "was it also a lie, Lia

ust stared at her, his

he charm vanishing completely. "After every

und the squalid room. "Thi

where she kept her few personal art supplies, a couple of old brus

small, half-finished sketch she' d been idly working

omped

eedlessly cruel, it solidi

he man she thought she

e buzzed, a jarring

ed at it

way, replaced by a look of

ed his suit.

ara. He didn't look

lone in the wreckage of their lif