niversary, and the

he soles of my bare feet. I' m wearing nothing but a thin silk ro

hand, framed by the warm light of the house. He wa

, Anna

attering. I don' t answer. My love for hi

through the wind. "It' s just a fraction of wha

hatred. He' s always believed I was the reason my older sister, Gabrielle, di

instead. A substit

look at him, the man I once loved with all my heart,

to her," I whisper, m

it. Your lies do

inside me. Maybe tonight, on our anniversary, he' ll s

think he will. But he just leans down

se you couldn't stand to see her happy." He straightens up, his expres

cing the quiet tension. He glances back, annoyed

relax, his entire posture changing. A look of pure, unadulterated joy

out a second glance, leaving the door open

filled with a desperate, ecstatic re

ving me shivering and forgotten on the balcony. I stand there, naked under the silk, a

pears. She doesn' t look at me. She just places a glass of w

e flat and devoid of pity. It' s the morning

ty driveway where his car was. My sister is b

are is only j