il

usi

he man who was supposed to be my protector, my partner, my love. He lo

ith such tenderness and said, "April, you're too soft for

mous snake over the desperate pleas of his own wife. All it took was a few crocodile tears

nvestigate. Please. Look into it. You' ll see I' m telling the truth." I was a mess, my face streaked with tears and mascara, my arm bleeding,

uctive scheme just to... what? Get back at your family? It doesn' t make any sense." He shook his head, his expression one of pity and disgust. "Your br

om my lungs. "Why?" I gasped, the question tea

a blade to my heart. "Because

red being a teenager, a silly rumor spreading about me at school. Hamilton, who was then just my brother' s brilliant older friend, had spent a whole weekend tracking

xisted in service of his own ego, his own narrative. And in the story h

ing he was wrong. It would mean that his noble sacrifice for Brittany was a fool' s errand, that he ha

ight was over. The hope was gone. There was not

lf up, ignoring the shooting pain in my arm. "I' m done. You c

ied, her face a mask of anguish. Then, she did something so audacious, so performatively insane, that I could only stare. She slapped her own face, hard, l

the hem of my dress. "Please, just d

gently pulled Brittany to her feet. "Look what you' ve done," he snarled.

began to tremble violently, her eyes rolling back in her h

second thought and rushed past me toward the exit. "I' m taking her to the

Alone. The crushed remains o

I dug the nails of my right hand into the palm of my left, hard. I pressed down, focusing on the sharp, gro

to see the slightest tremor in my hand and know something was wrong. Now, hi

omething. The small, white pill that

ttany, in his arms, saw it too. I

ined it. Then he looked at me, a slow, con

ce laced with venom. "Still trying to manipulate

hed it under his shoe, just

livered the fi

ine." He pulled out his phone and made a call. "Dr. Albright? It' s Hamilton Jones. I need you to ad

at me, his eyes devo

here until you' re ready to admit you were wrong and apolo

e. This wasn' t my Hamilton. This was a strange

ce shaking. "You can' t. You kno

t this on yourself," he said coolly. "You shoul

ving me to the two large orderlies who h

once lo

rced pills down my throat. When I refused, they pumped my stomach. When I screamed, they strapp

f Hamilton' s men, would come to

to apologize t

rugs and pain, I would give the sam

hing to apol

this place than surr

apsed, and they had no choice but

t to be discharg

looking tired and rumpled, a bouquet of my favorite peo

er. The man I m