s shaking on the steering wheel. The cold rain had seeped into her bones,

sterile apartment her lawyer had secured for her

mp dress. Her body ached. A deep, throbbing pain started in

harp, pierced thr

ew thi

the bathroom, he

undeniable. Blood

ny, secret life conceived in one of the rare, desperat

years of accumulated grief. She collapsed on the cold

rvived

ars were gone, replaced by a hollow emptiness. This loss was not a shared tr

ter, her la

ou ready?" he

aid. Her voi

arranged for the summons to be delivered to Mr. Arnold th

A goodbye delivered on th

phone buzzed with another call. It

again. A

, she a

?" sh

n edge of something unfamiliar in his voi

ger your conce

things are gone." A pause. "The paint

piction of the charity gala. A golden woman with the sapphire necklace, a hollow man besid

A housewarming present for

pped. "What about the merger? The

she said calmly. "My only concern now is the

. "I'm moving my primary residence to the city penthouse

an admission that her presence matter

sort out," she said

last thread. A fool

one your mother planted. It's overgrown. I was tending to it

for him to acknowledge a piece of th

le

. "I'm having it torn out. Gigi

tematically destroyed every last piece

, Emit,"

he heard a commotion on his end

d? You've b

ng up th

echoed through her body. She took one of the painkillers the d

ang, a harsh,

ew who

oaked from the rain, his hair plastered

't open

the sound reverberating t

this door! We

against the cool w

heard a fumbling sound.

was simple: he was Emit Arnold. A man for whom rules were m

or swu

htly. He was drunk. His eyes

r, grabbing her arms.

s face close to hers. He smelled of

hers. It wasn't a kiss. It was an act of possession.

o fight. She stood limp in hi

n her neck, his body

spered

hat was

rlei

killed the last lingering cell o

substitute. A war

insult. The final, u