g in the garden with my mother, the late afternoon sun warm on our skin. She was helping me plan t

e," she'd said with a wink. "They can c

ea. He kissed my mother's cheek, then mine. "How are my two favorite girls

r of the napkins. My parents saw it too. They were too polite to say it outright, but I could see the worry in their eyes. They wanted more for me than a business transaction disguised as a marriage. Tha

go. The memory was now tainted, a beautifu

cality. "This is a disaster, Ava," he'd said, not even bothering to sit down. "M

ted, my voice hollow.

nd empty. "But this changes things. The company, the inheritance... it's all

rtner, his love. I was a line item on a balance sheet that had suddenly turned red. He was cuttin

a fog of grief and shock. Relatives drifted in and out, offering food I couldn't

iam ap

touch gentle. "Let me handle this," he said. And he did. He made the difficult calls, his voice fir

his gaze so full of sincerity it hurt.

ine. He was the one person who seemed to underst

fore me, his face earnest. "I know the timing is insane," he said, "but my feelings are not. I love

nd who knew all my secrets. I saw him there, or I thought I did. I saw a future, n

I whi

for a moment, I let myself believe. I let myself feel a sliver

And I had taken it without a second thought, blinded by sorrow and desperation. The realization, when it came, was more devast