tate slid open with a so

ping gatehouse and onto the empty, moonlit road. She didn't turn on h

27

e window was sharp, smelling of cut grass and the distant, metallic t

r-wrapped steering wheel. This was

rating, a plucked s

te NewYork, past manicured lawns and colossal brick mans

He's lying

te, pounding drum against

r in the sky, the one that looked down on the entir

ry. Easy to remember. He'd smiled when he said it, a rare, genuine smil

e words were a

ide-to-be, on the hunt for evidence? She was behaving exactly like

e. Our guest

. Cold, d

sa's

n. Tri

e truth. His wor

he suburbs melted away, replaced by the steel and glass canyons of Manhattan.

aying she

le misunderstanding. She was praying she would crawl into bed beside him, bury her face in his ches

the fool, if it me

ilding. The concrete expanse was empty save for

s here. H

on

nst her ribs it hurt. She took the private elevator, her reflection in t

directly into his fo

use was da

-story, floor-to-ceiling windows, painting the Italian marble

ia

ous space. It was absorbed instantly by the minimali

ans

as still.

f relief. H

arge and impersonal it looked more like a hotel

he master bedroom,

or was

shed i

pt

risp, and perfectly, agonizingly undisturbed. A single pillow was dented, as if he

sn't

he foyer curdled into a new,

1:45 AM. The night

's with her. He came home

"broken glass" in her stomach finally, truly, shattered. This was it. Th

clock on his nig

as g

rive. Drive until the sun came up, drive until she ran out of gas, drive

en she

ightstand, next to the charging port and

o be a cufflink, too deli

ser, her blood

an ea

of small, glittering diamonds, with one per

s not

ple Vale pearls. She would never wea

was still warm, as if it had

s the

was a ruby earring, left on his nightstand, in his bed

erfectly matched the sha

he city lights outside blur

was a statement. This was an act of profound, arrogant c

her. He didn't even resp

g. The sharp edges of the diamonds bit i

. Tears were a luxury sh

d, empty room. She looked at the Vale diamond she had left

ather. He's marrying me to secure th

t from earlier

put the e

to the pocket of

she was wrong. She was no

of. And she was the woman who woul

ock clicking shut behind her with a so