nda'

betrayal sat heavy in my gut, making me feel sick. Every breath

ok on the wheel, but I kept them there tight, my knuckl

g like wet paint. I blinked hard but the tears kept coming, hot and steady. This wasn't r

s I goi

drew's office, and I still had no idea where I was going

lf and the mess behind me. Only the engine kept going, fi

I drove past. Horns blared in the distance but I didn't hear them not really.

was now a cruel joke. White. A color for innocence.A color for fools. For f

sa's body tangled with Andrew's flashed behind my eyes again and again like a horror

er. Of all people, it was her. I used to think blood meant somet

he boys, the attention ,they never wanted her. Not really

Or maybe she was always like

on the passeng

dr

glancing fully. He didn't get access to me anymore. Not with excuses. No

sure I wasn't going home besides that, the house wasn't

k, side by side. Fresh out of scho

'd become a background fixture. A tool. A name he used

d wait for him to explain it away like he a

never r

drove south, leaving everything I knew behind. My thoughts raced, faster tha

eded

use or the firm. Out o

talent was measured only by how well it propped up his ego. Wher

. The freeway signs stretched across

d. Barstow

ga

r honeymoon back when Andrew still looked at me

life, wild and unstructured. Neon lights. Endles

's what I

tate. A version of

idea took root. Vegas wasn't just a fant

. Not the house. Not the furniture we picked out together whi

ve , I had to protec

the engine. The silence that followed was thick like it was waitin

every design I'd ever created. Projects Andrew had taken credit for. Ideas I brought to life that he pr

notebook next an

ckl

through a client, not the one

all join

from the firm quietly,

nge my

isap

e list. Then a

back s

e white dresses and waited to be chosen. I'd be the woman who r

e buzze

ne

cou

it. I blocke

d seen the pictures, heard the voices,

t know I h

d and they were going to

sn't ready to hit Vegas yet. Tonight, I needed sleep. A cheap motel. A qu

ndrew marri

n replac

't want

nted l

ready to f