nting the edges of the playground. My parents, his closest friends and business

e and an authority that made the other children sca

father was my best friend. I'm go

museum than a house, but he filled it. He gave me the biggest bedroom, tutors for my education, a

about art, about business, about the world. I would watch him during dinner parties, a c

second too long. The way he would dismiss any boy who showed interest in me at school functio

guest had left, we stood on the balcony overlooking the sprawling g

c bird in my chest. I had to tell

my voice barely audib

dable in the moonlight. He was silent for a long moment, and in that silenc

y strand of hair behind my ear, his fingers brushing against my cheek. "I l

d me into his arms, and I buried my face in his chest, inha

dangerous, and ut

style. We were having dinner, and he simply slid a black velvet box acr

command. "Be my wife. You are the only one

hesitation. He was my past, my present, and my future. I trusted him complet

y mouth. Staring at the phone on the floor, at the image of the woma

a cold fire, a blaze of betrayal that thre

es he had made, all of it replayed

had all

me was nothing but a gilded cage, and I had just