The Price of a Perfect Angel

is the cold steel of a kni

on my best frien

shock that she had to find the p

ed! She was trying to sleep with this trucker f

ith fake sweetness, was now f

ound me. I could hear the notifications pinging on her phone, a

s her r

pid s

er got what

ushed me into his cabin because she wanted my comfortable Amtrak sleeper

by the one person I trusted most in the wor

gasped

't on a cold cabin floor. I was in the breakroom at my law firm in Chic

e, smiling her saccharine

bsite. "A private sleeper cabin is $600! That' s insane. Let' s get one cabin and one coa

ords. The e

eal. I w

he online hatred, it all flooded me. It wasn

The old me, the kind and trusting Gabrielle, would have agreed instantly. S

rielle w

ght in the eye, my v

No

She blinked, confused.

t splitting a cabin with yo

ce. This wasn't part of her plan. I was su

gues, Sarah and Mike, listening in. Her expressi

s I just forgot. You make, what, a hundred thousand a year as a parale

ed. It' s just, on my receptionist salary, things are so tight. I

ks. I could see the judgment in their e

manipulator, playing the poverty

now. I saw every mov

"You' re absolutely right, W

kered in

ight and cheerful. "It' s only, what, eighty bucks? We can sit together

quickly masked by a forced smile. She was trapped. She couldn' t

ered, her teeth clenched

inking. Her plan to get a free, private bed for the ent

he trip home for Thanksgiving would be differ