STEP ASIDE EX- HUSBAND: The rise of Liana

e music as we stepp

, as if he feared I would vanish if he let go. But I

ooked at me with uncertainty, as if waiting for the words, any wor

ting for me to smile, to laugh, to lean in against him lik

idn

ty lights blur by. My chest ached, like something too big

ht," he said to me finally

now. Not when every nerve in my body ached, not when all I could think

if perhaps he didn't think I'd heard him the fi

," I thought but

ing with each mile. He tapped his fingers on th

.. we could spend the night

y for the first time since we left. I made

house, you can drop

quite caught what I said. "

ked to be my date for tonight, I agreed cause I needed the attention. That's simply it." I said. I knew I was

ng, I just wan

tent and too forward. I might have liked it on

ted to say something, to plead

o

in a hurry, desperate to escape the car, to be able to breathe normally once more. I

ttle, polite peck on the cheek. No

t," I sai

the last glimmer of h

ight,

king back, the door closing with a click

. I took off my heels, the heels wherever they landed, and dumped my clutch on the consol

ice drifted across from the l

p snugly with a blanket around her knees, a cold glass of tea beading on the table beside her

g into the couch opposite

sunderstanding the weariness etched into the delicate lines of her

she asked, her

smiling weakly, the sound

ld back no longer. "Cam?" I whisper

ping her hand across her face, the gold wedding band catc

my throat. I leaned back against the couch, finally able

th her. For... for standing by me. For ev

the way - the relocation, the sleepless lonely nights, the gnawing doubt that consumed my marrow. When

" she growled. "You know I can'

ipe away the corner of my eye be

ossible," I

shot back, though her voi

nt, something which didn't often present

cleared. "How was

with the desire to take it, to savor it. "It was perfect," I panted, my voice husky

ad to one side, c

r - or should I say horror. Tonight, he d

I'm proud of you, Liana," she said slowly. "God knows you've worked hard enough to deserve th

er, truly ga

I'd live through the fights she could only hope I'd survive

ill, she di

steel and blood in my mouth, hard as any blade I m

orboards cool on my bare feet. I looked out into the darknes

tray cat darted across the sidewalk. The night was

t was about

's coming for him," I whi

l see too late that he never, ev