minute business trip to finalize a deal for the Miller family

here he was. He was with Sarah, putting the finishing touches on the launch

ence wa

ways kept it locked, claiming it was where he handled sensitive Miller family

les meant n

t but also lazy. I walked to the heavy oak door and entered the override code

k click

l and stale, heavy with secrets. It was a masculine room, all dar

h as a child, with a missing front tooth. Sarah at her high school graduation. Sarah on a beach, laughi

s arrangement. This was a deep, twisted love s

as filled with more of her things. A dried flower from a corsage. Ticket stubs from concerts they' d attended

he had betrayed our entire life together. Our marriage was a hollow shell, a stage for hi

I fou

s a locked leather-bound journal. The key was taped to the underside of t

d a week after my

her a hand. Grandpa is furious about me wanting to marry her, but he doesn' t see the long-term plan. Olivia is

stab of pain. He detailed every one of my startu

chain optimization. Send t

cept. Good, but needs polis

er to pretend to care. But Sarah' s first round of funding

ailures, not as tragedies, but as victories. My pain was hi

om just a month ago, wa

le to trace after the fire. No one would ever suspect a thing. They said it was a tragic accident. It was a necessary one. With he

l fell fro

sank to the floor, my back again

't an a

n't die in a t

ere mu

help of the man I loved. All so they co

ous, a searing, white-hot rage that burned away every last tear. I felt a profound, physical sickness, my bo

trayal, and the full, horrifying truth of my life settled upon me. I was not just a victim of