Chapter 3

The change in David was instantaneous and sickening.

His entire focus shifted from me to Emily. The annoyance on his face melted away, replaced by an expression of intense, tender concern. He completely forgot I was even in the room.

"Emily? What are you doing here? You should be resting," he said, rushing to her side. He gently took her arm, his voice a low, soothing murmur that he had used on me a thousand times. It was a painful echo of a love that was never real.

"I was just so worried," Emily said, leaning into him slightly. She gave a small, delicate cough. "You said you'd be right back, and then... I saw Sarah's car outside. I didn't want to intrude."

Her eyes flickered towards me for a second, a glint of triumph in them before they filled with perfectly timed tears. She was a master of her craft.

"You're not intruding," David said, his voice firm as he shot a glare in my direction. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer. "Are you feeling okay? Is your headache back?"

I watched them, a cold fury building inside me. Yesterday, I had a minor cold, and he'd told me to take some Tylenol and get over it. He hadn't even bothered to bring me a glass of water. Now, he was treating Emily's supposed headache like a life-threatening illness.

The hypocrisy was suffocating. He stood there, coddling the woman he was obsessed with, in a room dedicated to that obsession, and he had the audacity to look at me like I was the one in the wrong.

"So this is your 'meeting in the city'?" I asked, my voice hard as stone. I refused to let them see me cry. I refused to give them that satisfaction.

David' s head snapped back towards me, his expression hardening. "This has nothing to do with you."

"It has everything to do with me!" I shot back, my voice finally cracking with the force of my anger and hurt. "You lied to me, David. You were with her all day. Weren't you?"

Emily let out a small sob, burying her face in David' s chest. "David, she's scaring me. Maybe I should just go."

"No, no, stay right here," he cooed, stroking her hair. He looked back at me, his eyes filled with venom. "Look what you've done. You've upset her."

I stared at him, dumbfounded. The sheer audacity of his words left me breathless. He was the one who had built this entire web of lies. He was the one with the secret shrine. And I was the one to blame for upsetting his precious Emily.

"I upset her?" I said, a bitter laugh escaping my lips. "You have got to be kidding me."

Emily pulled away from him, her face streaked with tears. "I'm sorry," she whispered, looking at me with those big, deceptive eyes. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I should go."

With that, she turned and hurried out of the studio, her shoulders shaking with fake sobs. It was a perfect exit, designed to paint her as the blameless victim and me as the hysterical shrew.

David watched her go with a look of pure anguish on his face. Then, he turned that anger on me.

"Are you happy now?" he snarled. "You drove her away."

He didn't wait for an answer. He stormed past me, out the door, chasing after her.

"Emily, wait!" I heard him call down the hallway. "Emily, I'm sorry!"

I was left alone in the room full of her face, the silence broken only by the sound of my own ragged breathing. The love letters were still scattered at my feet, a testament to the lie I had been living.

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