IRE'

ee d

photo albums scattered across my

clinging to his abandoned shirts, three

htstand. Thirty-seven messa

you do t

u ever l

just tal

ords I had never imagined saying, curse

wered. All

he screen. I let it go to vo

to my chest, the fabric damp with tears. I stared at

nou

ng my reflection in the mirror. Hol

again when somethi

red to my refle

ack Richard. And as much as I hated him for destroyin

own exactly how much I loved him. An

im to suffer exactly as

t h

e to me like di

gain. Because revenge was sweetest when it came

make Richard Bla

I brought hi

awer, my hands shaking as I bro

he floor until I was left with a sharp bob t

shower and washed aw

d myself. The broken woman was gone.

ne dan

ction I had caused, throwing away the gifts R

the trash felt lik

*******

ouse I had shared with Richard. I sat at their dining table,

other asked, her voice sharp with cr

I wouldn't let her affect me. I nee

aid gently. "Nobody's goi

later, I st

more often," my fat

" my mother added. "You're not t

fail to remind me what

eep a man!" she yell

when my phone buzzed. Richard's lawyer. Somet

to meet hi

the man who ha

*******

ss tower that had once felt like home. My hands clenched aro

th floor. Ric

pitying look. "He'll see you in

ing thirty minutes like I was no

in now," Jane

was it. The moment I faced the man who had c

pped i

from behind, he was devastating. Sea-blue shirt rolled up to

messy, like he'd ju

of Monic

ecause he turned, and our

uldn't be happening. I was supposed to be over

oding my cheeks as he took in my a

ving to the couch in his offi

alvin's running late. Work eme

rd.' My pulse hamm

eductive tone that should have disgusted

hen you prove stubborn

athetic fool I had always been,

on, of promising myself I was stronger-all of it

g, some traitorous part of

my hands folded in my la

h casual dominance. "Ready to sign th

rs of marriage were just p

my voice stead

something flicker in his eyes. Regret? Longing? Or

and I are planning the wedding for next

I kept a calm face. Inside, I began t

t mon

th, and here I was, still pathetically hoping

tions," I ma

like he was searching for cracks in my

e it very clear that I was holding you back. That I

us flashed in his

anding gracefully. "I was all those thin

, my hand on the handle

going? Calvin

I was becoming. "Tell Calvin I'll sign whatever needs signing. But I'm don

the door,

regards. Tell her I hope she's r

with my head high, leaving h

I caught a glimpse of his face in t

ken. Like he had

tionally was gone. In her place stood someone who

as about to learn exactl

rying me away from my old li

ing dan

ake him rue the day he

was abou