named Mr. Thompson. I explained the situation in cold, clipped tones, leaving out the emotion, focusing on the facts: th

just a divorce, Mr. Payne. This is a strategic dismantling. We will not be loud. We will be precise." His

he twins. She was laughing, a sound that now grated on my ears. I thought about the timeline. She had married me, an orpha

was a shared decision. She had been playing a long game, and I had been the perfect, unsuspecting mark. A bitter smile touche

on the counter, its sticky residue forming a pink, disgusting puddle on the m

sence, by the sweet, cloying scent of their deception. I grabbed it with

th chocolate. Annie, the little girl, held up a shard of porcelain. It was

ointing an accusatory finger at

wer lip trembling in a practiced sho

e-year-old children were already experts at manipulation, taught by their mother

ing Annie into her arms, shooting me a look of pure venom. "How could you, Liam? It

t believe me, or she chose not to. She stood up, her arm protectively

said, her voice dripping with cold disappointment. "You're cl

justice of it all. I was being cast out of my own home, painted as

as taking its toll. The grand, beautiful house felt like a prison, its opulent rooms closing in on me. I retreated to the guest room, the do