te Gall

tighten the screws. She must have sensed a shift in me, a subtle change in the air. The qu

ont me directly. Instead, she began a campaign of psychol

t-the only creative outlet I had-went "missing" from my desk, only to turn up in the

ling voice loud enough for me to overhear, that she kept dreaming about me, a

ng I might need to "adjust my medication." The implication was clear: I was unstable. Unreliab

rate for the illusion of a happy, un

her eyes refusing to meet mine. "She has such a good heart

uncomfortable truth I represented. They had chosen their scapegoat

y own home closing in. The hope that had bloo

e moment he lef

ver the line. "I've got everything. Encrypted emails, original file

ob of pure, unadulterated relief. For a decade, I had been a character in a story s

" I asked, my voice

tonate this thing in the most public way possible. We make sure they can't sweep

immediately. It was p

s. It's the company's biggest press event of the year. The mayor

faction in his tone. "Get ready, Cha

my facade of the subdued, broken pariah while a revolution was brewing inside me. Ca

I'd planned to wear. She then offered me one of her own, a sickly sweet pink monstrosit

the night before the event. His fa

for the company. For me. For Carmella. No scenes. No long faces. Just stand in the back

nt ten years telling me I should be grateful for the cage he'd built aro

y voice smooth as glass. "I wo

approval before walking away. He had no idea that the quiet sister he

rrived for me. Inside was a simple, impeccably tailored black dress. It was elegant, p

tached. It was in E

'em dea

an looking back was not the timid ghost who had haunted the Gallego

eady for