a P
m suddenly reached across the t
to trace the bon
anniversary," he said,
you've always wanted to visit. I'
n my throa
im light of the dining room, I felt a
o used to run errands in the lashing rain j
my own painful, r
at he might just be overwhel
like Sophie was just a tedious
gambler, I chose
e William-and us
lly wore the crimson dress he h
me unusually early,
arp, formal black suit
lashed in his dark eyes as he w
d out to
lding my head with his palm to prevent me from hitt
nd smooth. He then produced a velvet box from his pocket and sl
favorite old song played soft
as warm and perfe
en the car's Bluetooth suddenly rang
on the dashboard scr
creen to answer with
ie's panicked voice filled t
reporting a burst water pi
king and how terrified she was
ished from William
s, the seatbelt digging
eel, making an illegal U-turn in
d against the
as, accelerating wildly
at me, frozen in
yes full of an urgent panic
n the city," he explained quickl
isk is high. I have
ched to a hal
la from the back seat. He
he restaurant," he urged, his
you as soon a
car before I even had
as the rain poured down
l, slapping sound, the soaked fabric clinging li
shoot into the curtain
rred into a distant red do
d my face, ruining my st
h churned
wer right abdomen began to throb with a shar
rmy night exactl
an acute appe
floor in agony, sweating through
voice notes, begging him to com
m three despe
s later, he
us
door through blinding pain that nig
hey had arrived twenty minutes later, my appen
mbling from a cold that
es, Sophie's leaking apartment
for survival were met w
that felt like a shard of glass in m
very first automated reply, the moment he
last shred of hope in my heart, leavi
ber to the expensiv
wn the concrete stairs into t
I pushed the
s of the closet, and grabbed the handle of my ma
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