"that was ugly. I'm sorry you had to go through that." He handed me an ice pack for my head. "The fellowship committee called me for a refere

over me. "Thank you, R

get out of this city," he a

lighter than I had in years. The decision was made. I was le

my keys, it was pulled open from the inside.

talk," he said,

Get out of my a

once felt like home, now felt like a cage. "I'm sorry about what happened at t

my voice dripping with disbelief.

gn of the old Ava, the one who always forgave him. "Once Lily is better, we can

, bone-deep weariness. "I'm tired, Ethan," I said, the words coming from a plac

t in his own fantasy. "Just give me a

id, walking past him into my

ed to keep. I arranged for the rest to be donated. With every box I taped shut, I felt a layer of my old life peel away

but for a structural issue. A water pipe had burst on the top floor of the new wing I had des

ies said, his voice frantic. "No one el

g, kicked in. My flight wasn't for another six hours. I could go, fix t

e, when the heavy steel door slammed shut behind me. The lock clicked. I spun around. Ethan stoo

an? Open the door!" I ye

low and menacing. "I went to the apartment. It'

ur business. Let

placed grief. "The doctors say the poison is aggressive. They sai

, baseless. "Ethan, that'

not leaving this city until she is better. Or until you confess." H