The Architect's Vengeance: Empire Falls

swooned when he named his latest skyscraper the "Allisson Tower," calling it a modern-day T

nant mistress. He had stolen my architectural blue

estures. I watched him smile genuinely at her livestream while holding my hand, sending her virt

our entire life on a mountain of lies. He didn't just break his

with irrefutable proof of his plagiarism inside a model of the firs

it for two wee

ks, his wife would be a ghost

pte

sson

account," and a cold calm settled over me. This wasn't just data I was deleting; it was every echo of the woman I used to b

er pres

e privacy service drone asked, its tone

llow. It was less a confirmation and m

en identity will be systematically expunged within two week

time. My flight to Santa Fe was already b

nother puff piece about Caden Hurst, the real estate mogul, the man who had built his empire on my stolen blueprints and our

anchor gushed, her smile too wide. "The Allisson Tower, a testam

played, strangers on the st

uquet of supermarket roses. "My husband barely remembers

d he flew in that rare medicinal herb from the Ama

hey bought it. How easily I had bought it. The Allisson Tow

For three years, he pursued me, a charming storm that chipped away at my carefully constructed solitude. He learned my routines, sent handwritten notes, showed up

ive, always praising my "vision," my "genius." He proposed endlessly, each time more elaborate,

looked at him, my heart full, and said, "Caden, I promise to be your partner, your confidante, your equal. But only if

e. He p

the shared dreams... all polluted. All shattered the moment I found the evidence. Not just the affair, but the gran

I was reclaiming my identity, piece by agonizing piece. This was my promise to myself, a promise I would k

, into a pristine, white architectural model. It was a scaled-down replica of the first buil

den's booming voice filled the sile

velvet box in the other. He looked tired, but his smile was radiant. "Happ

faint, cloying sweetness of another woman's perfume. Brittaney. I saw a faint, almost invi

"Put this on for me, will

fingers brushed my neck, and I felt nothing but revulsion.

a brittle smile on my lips.

from its hidden spot. It looked in

, taking it. "Another masterp

tch." I met his gaze, holding it. "You can't open

rment me, don't you?" He pulled a small sticky note from his pocket, scribble

my lips. "I hope," I said, my voice barely

the feigned tenderness. He wra

e, Caden. You just