on glowed on Sarah M

t Class. New York to Bali. De

nce's "preferred wellness retreat" about her impendin

a steadyi

upplementary credit cards linked to Etha

esperate pushback after

sband, the tech mog

't like i

as the

olished mahogany desk of their New

her heart thumping a frant

r, a video me

ood ra

howed a dimly lit

ed to a wooden chair, he

post opposite her, his expressi

prominently displayed between

:5

ling, came through the phone's

any seems to have misplaced her trav

clicked do

Sarah. Or your parents... well, let's just say their retir

ideo

so violently she alm

s. He had

rang aga

oice a choked whisp

y calm, devoid of any emotion. Like he was discussing a

elty of it sto

ad once sworn to prote

, Ethan. Please, they're good peop

tight, words cat

f a clock in the background of his call

' Sarah? Is it 'right' for my wife to interfere in my... arra

You seem to have forgotten your place.

. He used

was the most importan

lks, shouted it from metaphorical roof

rah Miller. Mor

e a shard of glass

were cheap,

a stranger, a monster w

er. "Ethan... would yo

it, or deny it. Needed so

, becoming silkie

Sarah. Ju

ne wen

face, hot and furious.

He absolut

ing intensity of his affection. He'd swept her off her feet, a M

hn and Mary, ha

eriff, had said, his brow furrowed. "Men like that... th

ut the glitter, the sheer

by love, by the charm Ethan

any

innocuously, a new "personal

ely looking up from his tablet. "Handles my

f it. Ethan's world was ful

te nights, the u

different perfu

t home, he'd been talking about a g

Sarah... God, I'm tired." H

as there. Tiff

onfront

"Stressed, darling.

t's casual, Sarah. Everyone in our circle h

ctation of fidelity was so

ame less hidde

side at "business" dinners,

mns – Ethan Hayes and a "myste

met with cold dismis

g this unplea

be a

things are.

lintered a littl

been born of months of swallowed pain, a desperate, last-dit

, she saw now. It ha

video image on he

pare

't let him

th sweat, fumbled as

first ring. "Decide

on a flight to Bali. A wellne

se. She could h

is voice was mocking. "I'll have my people intercept her

n. Where are they

e. "An old hunting lodge my family owns. Near Bla

a, didn't offer any reassur

hun

idn't h

er keys, her

-hour drive, if she br

te, dilapidated, m

d her – another symbol of his possessive generosi

orrent of fear and

stupid? How could she have

ty, she saw the turn-off, a barely visi

decaying structure silhouett

sign of Etha

halt, jumped out, and spr

m!

hung crookedl

urst

the wor

ck, the groan o

eneath her

r mother and her towards the doorway

er mother

st, and the sicken

d, her lungs

t throug

ed, tryin

debris, a heavy beam

feet away, dazed bu

om

John... oh

ed, her hea

llapsed section of the roof, his face conto

ive. He was l

out..."

ture groa

must have called them after all, hi

s of a hospital emergency room,

uts, bruises, a

tured wrist and

femur, three fractured ribs, and possible inter

r voice trembling as she clutched Sa

wed at her. This was her fault. Her st

, Mom. Dad...

on a gurney before they wheeled

He coughed, wincing. "That man...

n her, a flicker of his

raspy but firm. "The agreeme

agre

r. The prenupt

d upon. The one Ethan, in his arrogant certainty that she would never leave, that he co

een to that. Infidelity, proven by her, meant immediate dissolution. And a settlem

nfaithful. Blata

was th

termination began to form

ted to pl

i

me was abou

urgery, as soon as she knew he was

he best damn divorce l

ew citizenship somewhere far away

ht he had a

o find out how