Chapter 2 - MY REPLACEMENT ARRIVED
Blue Ridge House stood nearly two hours outside the city, surrounded by pine trees and sloping fields.
I had bought it during the most successful year of my acting career, before Ethan’s company became a global empire and before our lives became a parade of assistants, security guards, and invitations we could never refuse.
The house was small compared with Willow Creek.
It had three bedrooms, a stone fireplace, and a porch that faced the mountains.
Behind it lay a neglected garden where I had always planned to grow tomatoes, basil, and wildflowers.
Years earlier, I had shown Ethan the property.
“When we’re old,” I had told him, “we could live here.”
He had laughed and wrapped an arm around me.
“We’ll raise chickens?”
“And vegetables.”
“You hate waking up early.”
“You can feed the chickens.”
“I’m a technology executive.”
“You’ll be a retired technology executive with excellent chickens.”
He had kissed my forehead.
“Wherever you are, I’ll be there.”
That promise returned to me as I unlocked the front door alone.
Dust covered the furniture, and the air smelled faintly of cedar.
I opened every window.
Then I took off my wedding ring and placed it in the top drawer of the bedside table.
The silence should have frightened me.
Instead, it felt clean.
May you like
For the first time in years, no part of me was waiting for Ethan to come home.
By noon, the news had broken.
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