isted with rage on behalf of a liar, and felt a strange sense of calm. The pain in his heart had been

t it wasn't a sad sound. It was the sn

voice surprisingly c

gument. She had expected him to fight, to deny, to scream.

onvince herself as much as him. "His art saved my life. What ha

dull, throbbing background noise until now, suddenly surged, sharp and blinding. Black spots d

he makeshift bandages weren't e

their broken trophy and their shared delusion. He made it to the elev

world fading to gray. The last thing he saw before

beeping of a machine. He was in a hospital bed, an

e compound fractures, severe tissue damage. You lost a lot of blood. We've done what we can to stabilize you, but you're going to need

e is outside. She's agreed t

of hope, thin and

the doctor continued

course. There was

ired, but her eyes were as hard as ever. She stood

best physical therapy," she said, her

ting the offer

ttack'. You will state for the record that he is the one and only 'Phantom', and you will renounce an

to erase him, to surgically remove his identity and replace it with her preferred ver

hands was nothing compared to the agony of this choice.

said, her voice cold. "He can't wait forever. You're at r

s hands, the future where he could hold a brush, a pencil, or

backed him into a cor

word tasting like ash

e touched her lips. "Go

Olivia laughing as he sketched her portrait, her eyes full of love and nothing else. He dreamt of their first tiny apartment, where they'

of the doctor talking to

e low. "She talks about his treatment like she's negotiating

e woman he loved was gone. She had died somewhere along th

The bones were set, the tissue repaired. But so

a contract detailing their "agreement" in

his voice flat. "I'll do what you wa

his bandaged hand clumsy and

ter this, we are nothing. You are not my wife. I am not your husband. W

act from him. "You're being emot

dea. He was

avy casts. As he was waiting for a cab, a sleek blac

said. "I'm tak

b," he said, not

ulous, Ethan. G

just stood there, a

cking angrily on the pavement. She st

e demanded. "'We will be strang

, his eyes as cold and g

ctly what it