The Bottom Line: His Suffering

dy cost me everything. Our marriage was a hollow shell, and his crue

ear-old niece, Bea, so hard he ruptured her eardr

unconscious body and sc

my brother and now had brutalized

ed for sixteen ye

ried for so long burned away,

ked straight up to him and slapped him across the face. "My family is my bottom line, Gabr

pte

ust a few nights or a business trip anymore; it was a ghost in our bed, an empty space at the dinner tab

ose ridiculous scented candles that promised inner peace. Nothing worked. The e

. He wasn' t Gabriel. Not truly. But he was close enough to fool my weary mind for a few hours. He had

lose to Gabriel' s. He stood in the doorway of our (my) master bedroom, a faint scent of

oice thin. "Just...

h the motions like dancers in a morbid ballet. He sat on the edge of the bed, jus

, forcing the hope into my tone. It was a line from our past, a decad

rk, Allison. You

heart, despite itself, tightened. This was the part where my old self would try to

ssed, my voice a forced calm. My fingers twitc

out at the city lights, his back to me. Just li

room grew thick. This was it. The real test

ook, Allison. You worry too much. Kaia is a junior architec

ven in this twisted simula

, sharp and unfamiliar. "Is t

ctly copying Gabriel' s. "Don' t start, Allison. I'

is wasn' t just a memory; it was a re-en

on to see what' s right in front of me? The late nights, the 'guidance,'

espite myself. "You' re being irrational! She' s an employee. Nothing m

he dinner receipts aren' t real? The texts are

ry, Gabriel' s signature move before he' d unleash.

I yelled, the words tumbling out, raw

ur hysterics! Maybe if you weren' t so... demanding, so suspicious

ice, the twisting knot of humiliation. He was

the rage a cold fire in my veins. "You thi

have been. Kaia... she just understands. She' s

xact monologue Gabriel gave me a year ago, the night I found a diamond ear

start?" I challenged, my voice shaki

g time." He paused, then added, his voice dripping with condescension, "And if you keep

life we' d built together. This wasn' t simulation anymore; it was my past, present,

of this agonizing truth. But something in me snapped. Not in a

ry replaced by a profound emptiness. "Enough of

by my sudden shift.

'loving husband returns home, tired but happy to be with his wife' script. The

hen sighed. "Al

murmured platitudes about how lucky he was. His arms felt like Gabriel' s, the scent of his cologne identical. My body responded out of habit, or perhap

ve that was long dead, propped up by a paid actor. I saw it stretching out be

as a prison of my own making, reinforced by a man who had long ago stopped

e like this. No

in our staged drama. Leo pulled away, a

riel stood there, in the flesh, looking tired, a f

es scanning my face, searchi

one. Just a vas

ied, my voice stead

, who was still standing by the bed, looki

demanded, his voic

o. "Thank you, Leo

and slipped past Gabriel, offer

eyes fixed on me. "What t

ugging. "You were never here, so I hired s

ture of anger and disbelief. He

londe hair fell perfectly over her shoulders, her eyes wid

kay?" she asked, her voic

ctly fine, Kaia," I said, stepping aside, gesturing for her to enter. "Com

cker of uncertainty in her innocent eyes. My composure was unbreakab

voice even, unyielding. "Th

elt... exhilaratin