yn Bar

rs. I' d given him five years of my life, my loyalty, my body. I' d built my world around him

s after the accident, when the world was a kaleidoscope

sterile hospital room. "You saved me. Marry me. Let me spend the rest of my life making

d the terror, the cold, the split-second decision that had changed my life forever. How could he not

dn't cherish the memory; he wielded it. It was his get-

le, Brooklyn, but it's exacerbated by stress. Extreme emotional dis

ke, the foundations cracking beneath my feet. I pressed my palm against my sternum, trying to physically hold myself together, to push down the wa

shed on the screen. I let it ring four times

He

g glasses. "Listen, things are running late at the office. We' re t

ourse. Her nam

A chasm of everythi

word costing me more effort

s it?

en. Okay.

y surprised by my lack of protest.

ng. Don' t wait up. I had been waiting up for him for five years. Waiting for hi

ed, the pristine white duvet a stark reminder of the wedding that was now a lie. Aro

ense of dread coiling in my stomach

around Annmarie' s waist. She was plastered against his side, her head resting on his shoulder, her eyes half-closed in a drunken, adoring gaze. He was holding

comments that

so perfect

d his Queen!

they' d get married back in college

girl named Lauren. "@KadenBlankenship Dude,

ing. Kaden' s reply ap

l live. Or she wo

humiliation, my very existence was just a minor in

n, turning it face down on the nightstand. I would not let him see me crumble. Not anymore. I

appointment with Dr. Sanchez. The rain was comi

arr?" the nurse asked kindly

ith a smile that didn' t reac

jacket, but the cold seeped into my bones. As I waited for the light to c

lding the passenger door open for her, a gesture of chivalry he' d long abandoned with me. And draped over her

Vale

n' t even be bothered to take his mistress' s five-figure dress home h

avoid the puddles. By the time I stumbled through

ater, shaking a few drops of water from h

happened to you? You l

me," I said,

s widened in a brief, fleeting moment of recolle

him yesterday morning. And the day be

o annoyance. "How did it go? Did you finally get a clean

, my ongoing struggle

ike an eternity. "No, Kaden. I didn't. The optic nerve damage is permanent. Th

. "So what you' re saying is, this is never going to end. You'

he man I thought I knew, the man I had saved, wa

t' s always something with you, isn' t it? A headache, a blurr

e collar of his crisp white shirt. The exact shade

our collar," I said, my

ing to his neck in a p

oison, "that she should be more careful with her fifty-

n in a heartbeat. "You were foll

he yelled, advancing on me. "He

ied last mo

with the desperation of a man caught in a lie. "You don' t understand, you'

hat about your responsibility to me? Your fiancée? The one who walked home alone in t

uted. "That was an accident!

arie' s name glowed on the screen. He answered, his v

at' s wrong? A

e speaker. "Kaden... I' m so sorry... I

ate. He didn' t

d the door. He paused, his hand on the knob, and t

God' s sake, try not to be s

him. The sound echoed in the silent, c

hought I was b

years, I hadn't been blind because of a damaged n