r I was calling

r of our quiet living ro

n a vase, froze. Her hand hovered over

d you say

I repeated, my voice steadie

d with worry. "Honey, what happened? Did you two have a figh

." I looked her in the e

we don' t marry by our twenty-fifth birthday, a neurological disorder begins to set in. It starts with tre

irthday was just

as supposed to m

ide with a fear I knew all too well. It wasn' t

ice was a whisper. "You

, the words tasting like ash in my

?" She was starting to panic,

just knew I couldn' t marr

he tension. He looked from my mother' s

going on?"

ntly, his jaw tightening. When I finished, he didn' t ask questions

e said, his voice firm. "We' re

ust was the only thin

ambitious boy who always knew what he wanted. I was the quiet girl who drew bu

ree. Each time, he' d say his tech startup needed a little more time to stabilize. He wanted to g

e Sarah

let go. I felt sorry for her. I saw her talent, buried under a mountain of insecurity. When Liam mentioned h

ong, but the way they stood together felt wrong. She was looking up at him, her eyes shining with something that wasn' t jus

lf I was be

quickly hide. He started talking about her constantly. "Sarah thinks we should expan

talk to h

too close to your assistant?" I asked one

are you trying to say, Chloe? That I can' t hav

r head bowed as if she hadn' t heard, but I

professional," I said, my voi

to turn and look. "Sarah is the best thing that' s happened to my company. You sh

ing. I saw pity and amusement in their eyes. He was the cha

shame. He saw my distress

lacing a comforting arm around her as she dabbed at h

st crack appeared in the pe

im. My birthday was looming. My life depended on this marriage

s wr