y's voice cut through the

ad raw. She was examining her nails,

ze. "If she really wants to show remorse for her husband's failures, she shou

kled. "An excellen

y face. This wasn't about a fake debt anymore. This was

ght off guard by the new direction of the script.

n a nightmare. "It's a game to them. Don't provoke them. Just... just do it and it will be ov

pect? It meant nothing to him because he had b

quiet, but it felt like a

p, my legs shakin

is grip was like steel. The mask of the pathetic loser was

where," he said, his

of me,

digging into my flesh. "You'll do it, and then

opped in front of me, her eyes filled wit

red. "Still trying to

t warning, s

to the side, my cheek stinging

e clutch and pulled out a thick stack of hundred-dollar bills. She threw them in my face.

a cruel smile. "Go on. Pick it up. Isn't that

n unreadable. He didn't defend me. He didn't stop her. He was

he floor around me. It was more cash than I usually saw in a

gh the glittering hallways of the convention center, past the smiling staff and t

r his play of poverty. I looked at the peeling paint on the walls, the leaking faucet in the sink that he always claimed we couldn't affor

ying about every single dollar, while he was living a life of unimaginable

. My paints were dried up, my brushes stiff. I had given it all up for him. I had sacrif

me, crushing the air from my lungs. Ten years. He

-