Ethan came home the next morning as I was at the kitchen island, sipping cold brew and scrolling through my laptop. A company-wide email about a long-term assignment in Seattle glowed on the screen.<\/p>\n
A long, hot bath was the only thing that thawed the ice in my veins. As I sank into the bubbles, I finally stopped shaking. I bandaged my weeping feet, swallowed my pills, and fell into bed, into a dreamless sleep so deep it felt like vanishing.<\/p>\n
He rushed out. My laptop pinged. A message from the photography studio.<\/p>\n
I was about to type *Cancel everything*, when I paused. A slow, cold smile touched my lips. I copied Chloe\u2019s social media handle and pasted it into the reply.<\/p>\n
This time, I just watched.<\/p>\n
He crossed the room in two strides, his hand closing around my wrist. \u201cLauren, about yesterday, I\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
I drained my coffee, stood, and walked to the fridge. I pulled out the lunchbox I\u2019d packed last night\u2014turkey club on sourdough, his favorite chips, a pickle. Old habits die hard. Except this time, I opened the trash can lid.<\/p>\n
I hit send, then opened the Seattle assignment application form and began to fill it out.<\/p>\n
*\u201dHi Lauren, we\u2019re so sorry about the interruption yesterday. We\u2019d love to reschedule your session. When are you available?\u201d*<\/p>\n
He let go of my wrist as if it burned him and answered. \u201cHey, you.\u201d His voice shifted, becoming light, soothing. \u201cDon\u2019t cry. Just stay put, okay? I\u2019m coming to get you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t look up. \u201cI don\u2019t have a phone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a gap in my schedule today around one,\u201d he said, pausing at the door, his tone magnanimous. \u201cWe can have lunch. Don\u2019t be late.\u201d<\/p>\n
He stood in the doorway for a moment, watching me. \u201cYou didn\u2019t call,\u201d he said finally, his voice low and accusing.<\/p>\n
*\u201dThe bride has changed. Please contact her for all future scheduling: @ChloeRose.\u201d*<\/p>\n
His phone rang. Not his regular ringtone, but the specific, chimesque melody he\u2019d set for Chloe. In the past, that sound was a knife to my heart. I\u2019d snatch the phone, beg, cry, hit \u201cdecline\u201d over and over. It always ended the same: him wrenching it away and leaving.<\/p>\n
This was his version of an olive branch. His *concession* after a fight about Chloe. He was allowing me the privilege of his company, expecting me to be grateful.<\/p>\n
He turned to leave, then saw the lunchbox in my hand. Without a word, he took it from me. He had chronic stomach issues. For five years, I\u2019d made his lunches. He\u2019d come to expect it, like sunrise.<\/p>\n
I shook my head, kicking off my ruined shoes. \u201cIt\u2019s too late, Maria. It can wait.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fate Rolls Dark by Mark Twain 3 \u00a0Chapter 3 Ethan came home the next morning as I was at the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gave-up-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21972"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21972\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}