Helena's Revenge: A Marriage Unraveled

rom a junior state representative to a man whose name echoed with respec

en smoothie with a young woman, Kandy Mays. His face was lit with a joy I hadn

dn't make a scene. I walked away, my heels clicking a steady rhythm that betrayed none of the chaos inside

wanted to talk, to deliver the final blow. I pulled a folder from my desk and looked

f his plan. A dying wife couldn't be divorced. He was trapped. The weight of his publ

ilent room. The next morning, my nephew Jared called. "He kicked

pte

ntative into a man whose name echoed with respect in the halls of power. He retired with a generous pension and a seat on

the perfect partner who smoothed over his arrogance with a w

afe, his face lit with a boyish joy I hadn't seen in twenty years. He was sharing a single, luridly green smoothie with a youn

is wasn't just a fling. Thi

r name. I saw it with a certainty that chilled my bones: he was looking for a new life in her. Her name, he'd mentione

could see me, my heels clicking on the pavement in a stead

or he could discard with a small settlement an

ful, cheating husband. Her last words to me became my religion. "Men like that, they'll leav

nty years, I h

ith rosemary and lemon. The house smelled of comfort,

ce. He was ready to deliver the final blow. "Helena, we

my movements calm and deliberate. I pulled a single folder

used. Then I looked h

my voice level. "Pancreatic. The d

It wasn't love or concern. It was the sudden, shocking destruction of his neat little plan. A dying wife couldn't be d

avoiding mine. He retreated to his study, and t

my nephew Jared ca

as crying her eyes out on the sidewalk. And he calle

the firs