The Marriage Built on Lies

was transferring schools, my

my mother said, her voice tight,

of my room, my father a

musician with no future,

m the suffocating quiet of my house. He was my secret, my escape from their rigid r

ing my life,

ed, her voice cold as s

uniforms and polished shoes, a far cry from the creative chaos of my old public school. I

when I

open on his lap, his head bent in concentration. He had warm, k

I passed, and hi

he said. It wa

, unable

an. Etha

oe D

nch beside him.

ing lik

d. He understood the ache to create something beautiful, something that would last. For the fi

his fingers flying across the piano keys while I sketched his profile.

noon, his voice filled with a reverence that

heart swelling. "T

e my stomach flip. "Then it's a pact. You and me. We

ed, my voice thi

d it. I believed in him. I believed our future was a masterpiece we would create together.

n and excitement. We were both staying in the city, in separate hote

raising his glass of

my hand trembling slightly. "I

loe. They'll be lucky to have you." He gave me a small, reassuring smile

I trusted him completely. I took two w

ater. The restaurant lights blurred, the

y head feeling heavy.

his voice sounding far

. I remember the cold night air, the smell of garbage and rain. I remember hi

here are

tting against the cold, wet wall. My vision swam. He knel

Chloe," he

was disoriented, vulnerable, and completely helpless. I tried to call

y head pounding. I had no idea how I got there. My dress wa

blanket, when my phone started buzzing

disarray. It looked horrible. It looked like the wo

l. She showed up at my door, her

ge. "You have shamed this family. You have shamed God. Do

he door behind her. The sound e

He didn't say a word. A few minutes later, his phone chimed with a text. He read it, an

oes it feel to see your

e number. My b

s Eth

moved away overnight. He vanished from the face of

and PTSD. The bright, artistic girl who dreamed of New York was gone, replaced by a frightened woman who was scared of her own s

did. But the knocking was persistent. Finally, a key turned in th

as E

ame handsome face. He looked at me, at the squalor of my apartment, at

full of pain. "I finally found you.

ss and devotion that slowly, painstakingly, began to soothe the raw edges of my soul. He told me he had been forced to

m. I needed to believe him. His car