Accepting that was harder than turning him into a villain.
But it was also what finally freed me.
I did not need every good memory to become false before I was allowed to leave.
By summer, I sold the Connecticut estate.
Everyone expected that decision to devastate me.
It didn’t.
The house was beautiful.
It was also full of echoes I no longer wished to maintain.
A young family bought it.
On closing day, I walked through alone.
The sunroom where Victoria had eaten her last lunch.
The kitchen where Adrian handed me the makeup kit.
The bedroom floor.
The bathroom tile where the burner phone had waited beneath my feet.
Before leaving, I opened the vanity drawer.
The luxury makeup case was still there.
I had forgotten it.
Cream leather.
Gold zipper.
Almost absurdly beautiful.
I carried it downstairs.
For a moment, I considered throwing it away.
Instead I opened it on the kitchen island.
