ack across the

r. The wind howled ag

air bite into her skin. She wanted the cold. She needed t

in. She stopped and l

ous rose garden was being d

. Edgardo standing in a military uniform under a brigh

replaced by the sight of his

doubl

f the window. Her stomach viole

her throat. She coughed,

action to the nausea. There was no sadness left in her.

ste out of her mouth.

tal bed, her skin grey and her breathing shallow. Eleanor held Arl

closed

spered to the empty hallway.

the door to th

cked. The silk-wrapped anniversary gift sat on

he massive marble bathroom. S

tall and turned the heavy metal di

the showerhead in

d and shoulders. The shock made her

ing spray. She let the water soak through

his house. She needed to wash off the

ips turned blue. Her fing

a shaking hand and

pped it on the marble floor. She grabbed a thick

sinks. She slammed her han

oded the bathroom. She

t hair clung to her cheek

the bristles through her wet hair. She pulle

until her

, waiting wife was gone. The woman starin

bathroom. She walked to t

She slept alone in that bed for t

heet. She yanked it hard. The sheet ripped away

into the wa

Most of them were pastel dresses and soft sweaters.

e walked to the very

. It belonged to the Monroe family. It had he

in the corner. She pulled out a d

did not need to work. But she never truly stopped. Hidden behind the estate's budget lines was a massive, state-of-the-art private laboratory she secretly funded and

risp white blouse and the grey trousers

nd tied it into a tight, sever

the heavy armor of her true ide

vanity. She picked up

he box into the metal trash can next to the

ed out a piece of heavy, blank legal pa

the paper. She wrote one w

vor

e pen. She left the paper

vintage trunk. She turned her back t