was a quiet, somber affair he

nds and family from my past life, people with hardworking hands and honest faces, came to

was no

arlier that morning. A man in a tailored suit, Blake's personal assistant, steppe

with enough zeros t

ve handwriting. "This should cover all expenses and provide

er' s life. Or at lea

y against my fingers. I listened to the pastor say his final words, the rain mingling with t

nd a lighter I' d bought

en, curl, and turn to ash. The fire consumed Blake' s name, then the obscene number of zeros

o the empty air, to the ghost of my husb

the wet breeze, disapp

to see a lawyer the next day. The office was stark and prof

calm, middle-aged wo

y voice was steady. All the t

ed neutrality. "Have you discussed t

" I corrected her. "And no.

. I told her about my father, about his simple goodness and his brutal end on our marble floor. I

w pity in her eyes, then anger. By the time I finished,

voice soft but firm. "W

but to me, they were a declaration of independence. I sig

s well," Ms. Davies said gently.

aid. "He won't take my

papers delivere

d somehow, I knew Blake would find a way to twist it, to de

ice low, "for me to sign for him

t's highly irregular, Elle

"He'll give me anything I want, as long as it's mon

d the crowds felt alien. I went back to the mansion, the place I o

one and diale

of music and laughter in the background before he pick

acted. "Is the money not enough? I told my

I was. He didn't

money, Blake," I s

nment session. She' s channeling a particularly powerful cosmic frequency today."

reathtaking. My father was dead. Our marriage was

cing the rage down. "I've

ther end. Not of shock, or

lawyers draw up a settlement. Just name your price. A house in the Hamptons? A few

ce, to buy his freedom withou

said, my voice cracking despi

issively. "Consider it done. I'll take

hun

my ear, a final, defin

He had agreed. Just like that. Our vows, our history, the man who said

Ms. Dav

my voice hollow. "He sa

ilence on the othe

hy that Blake would never offer. "Come in tomorrow. We'll get it sign

cess ha

thes from my college days, a small photograph of my parents. Everything he had ever given me-the jewelry, the designer cloth

ed was a "spiritual retreat" in the Caribbean. I moved through the empty rooms like a

ront door opened. Celesta swept in, tanned and glowing, draped in white

, to disappear back into

rene smile was a mask for

id, her voice smooth as silk.

r. I just want

k sympathy. "His passing was tragic. His soul was so... cluttered. It m

od ran

," I whispered, my vo

elieve it's time for a more intensive ritual. You will wash my feet every evenin

ief, the humiliation, the years of

lear and loud in the cav

ened, the mask of spirituality falling a

efuse me?"

, looking her st

quality and becoming shrill. She turned to the two bodyguards st

sitated. They looked from Celesta to me, a flicker of

screamed. "Or do you w

ward me. I braced myself, my heart hammering against

help

in her eyes. She drew back her hand, and the sound o

, electric. My head

rned, my lip split, and the salty taste of blood filled my mouth. The wo

n my ears, I could he

l Blake picked up out of pity.

chest rising and falling. She grabbe

e a low, menacing growl.

age, cold and pure, filled me. I imagined lunging forward, my hands ar

consumed me, I heard Blake

going

e stood there, taking in the scene: me, held by his men, my face bruis

licker, ignited in my chest. He would

d, I saw something in their depths-a flash of pain, of the o

of pain and relief streamin

from me

er voice trembling. "She was disrespectful. She refused to perform the purification ritual. She spoke ill of her own father'

an obvious,

e looked at my swollen, bleeding one. He was sil

f pain in his eyes was gone, replac

as she says. Is a little dignity really mor

A little dignity. He had reduced my humanity, m

lief. "Do you remember what you said at the hospita

mention of the past was

u should remember that your father is buried in a cemetery on Wallace property

ng my dead father, the man he had helped kill, as leverage

idn't just die. It was violently extinguished