t like a lifetime of peace after

afe. I thought I had foun

s wr

mily Carter, returned, and suddenly I, his long-term girlfriend, was just a friend. He didn't even have the dece

preneur, kind and attentive, and he told me he had admired me for years. He was the calm after t

ed once. I finally found it at a private collector's shop two towns over. The owner told me it was part of a larger collection being sold from a private art studio D

ove for him. He tru

ht, but strangely empty. There were no canvases, no sculptures, just a single door at the far end of

open, and the

storage room.

or to ceiling, with portraits. A

y Ca

indow. Sketches of her hands, her eyes, her profile. They were obsessive, detail

oom sat a single, leather-bound box. My hand

of letters. They were all addressed to Emily,

The date was from

arest

ill never make you as happy as I can. But I will be pat

in my throat. I grabbed another, this one dated a yea

, my

fect tool. Once Jake is free, he will finally see that you were the one for him all along. I will orchestrate their breakup, and in

ars welling in my eyes. Another one, from j

her, hold her, and all the while, I am clearing the path for you. Jake and you are spending more time together,

n ye

ars of p

his sick game. I wasn't a person to him. I was a pawn. I was the obstacle he n

betrayal. This was a violation. My entire year of healing a

he rare comic book I had bought for him felt like a jok

esolve settled in my chest. I would not be a victim in his st

her' s number. My parents, prominent figures in their industry, had always been protective. They had once suggested an arranged m

escape. A transaction, clean and free of th

d the ca

y mother answered, her warm voice a stark con

voice to remain level. I couldn't l

erything

li

you and Dad mentioned a while ago. The

er end. I could picture her ex

ah? We never wante

ht about it. It' s a good decision. For the fa

would take any door th

she said, her voice laced with a concern

you to

signed my life away, but it felt like the first real choi

outer door of t

ou in her

rful voice echoed in t

od ran

y the proof of his monstrous deception. His footsteps g

e full of the fake affection I had mi

box, the scattered letters, and the portraits of E

-