Five Million Dollars To Erase You

ia's

on my wounds!" I sobbed, tears springing

nally pierced his

ent comple

heavily, his gaze finally focusing on my tear-streaked face - a

released my wrists and staggered backwa

mumbled, ho

d not

bed, clutched the blanket to my ch

ving room sofa downstairs, staring unblinking at

footsteps sounded o

the staircase in a perfectly

the sofa, his eye

ose last night?" he demanded icily,

an overwhelming exhau

ha

of the hall sits right next to the guest rooms, and you moved into it anyway. Did you think you could

n who had raised m

y orchestrated my own violation in my own

educed you?" I

ough clenched teeth. "My wedding to Brenda is in ten days. Try

down at

stand, M

d at his side, lifting slightly - as if

behind me, snatched up a sealed bot

rs to pay off the five-million-d

y oil paintings that had ta

ition-and-sale in the downtown galle

I contacted Channing's art found

out it at dinne

ly. "Why don't we make it a joint show? My new series happen

agreed on

t main hall of the Me

e poured millions into publicity, l

hung beneath custom spotlights in the central atrium, flo

led to a narrow, dim corridor by the fire exit - no s

ot one person set

n, a sudden commotion e

sprinting down the corridor, pho

eyes wide with shock. "Someone's accusi

orced calm, but my heart had alrea

ending list was a viral post wi

ily Plagiarizes Socialite Br

rnoon sunlight slanting across a mahogany desk, an eighteen-year-old b

esting Hero - identical to my piece in compositio

d become a battlefield

years, and this is how she repays them? S

eless p

her concept sketches two months a

my arm, red-fa

hree years ago! You were still wearing that blue school uniform when you sket

rom my face. "The blue leather notebook... it has the date

one. "You sent me photos of every page last fall for the graduation

he gallery, hailed a cab, a

the most secret, most s

home with a perfect high-school r

d him asleep at his desk, worn out fr

nd over the next three months poured my whole hear

r intended

I vanished forever and never came back,

e a madwoman - under the bed, the

sketchboo

ugh my mind. I refused to belie