44

Cara

Despite his promise to come up with a compromise, three days pass before I finally lose my patience.

I try to be a good wife and partner. I want to make this work, even if we're faking it. I have lunch with Helen, walk the grounds with his mother, straighten up the room despite him pleading with me to let the staff do it, and I do it all with a smile.

I wear my sneakers and don't complain when he slips into bed late at night, not saying a word.

I avoid Sophia and Anissa as best I can though I catch their dirty glares when I pass them in the halls, which is mercifully rare.

But enough is enough.

I can only take so much.

My world is like an afterlife. Not a prison—but a hell. I'm trapped here, stuck drifting from one place to another, like purgatory. Not quite stuck, not quite able to escape.

I wake up early, shower while he's still asleep, get myself ready, and confront him as the birds chirp at the sunrise.

"I'm going to work." I pull the uniform over my head and shoot Phel a tex