nsuring Jake was truly gone. I kept my eyes closed, my breathing shallow, feigning deep sleep. My mind was racing, trying to

n that felt achingly real, so different from Li

't. The pretense of sle

e quiet room. He pulled a chair over and sat a f

gging your drink, I mean. He calls them 'bro parties.' He gets you just groggy enough that you won't rem

rous act. It was a pattern. A sick, repeated ritual of humiliation. He didn't just use me to

Months ago. He just laughed. Said you were his wife and he could do w

naive. I had given my heart to a monster, and

e's, but protective. Finally, he reached into his jacket pocket and placed something

you ever need anything. Anything at all. I'll

an to wear off and I could finally move my fingers, then my arms. When I finally "woke up," he simp

down on me with brutal clarity. For a moment, I just lay there, hollowed out. Then, a fir

lk-in closet, to Liam's side. His suits were all perfectly pressed, his shoes lined up in perfect, obsessive rows. I gra

piece of the pain and humiliation leaving my body, replaced by a cold, hard resolve. I went to the living room and swept our

derly world. The house was a mess, but my mind had never been clearer. I pic

" I said, my voice steady. "My name is

y in the back of his desk drawer, beneath a pile of old financial statements, was a black

usiness, his life, or even his

le, her laugh, the way she tucked her hair behind her ear. He detailed every interaction, every casual conversation, twist

oke what was left of my heart. It

Chloe was the maid of honor. She stood so close to me at the altar. Now that I'm married to her best friend, I'll be in

ed us at a fundraiser. He'd been so charming, so interested in my work, so different from any man I'd ever m

oking past me, at Chloe, who was standing right by m