Deafened by the Meds, the Abandoned Wife Finally Stops Playing Nice

I scrambled up from the floor, a mess of humiliation and fear. Amid the silent roar of laughter, I fled that glamorous, gilded hell.

I burst out of the banquet hall and into a torrential downpour. Icy rain lashed against my skin, mixing with the hot tears on my face. I couldn't tell where the rain ended and my grief began.

I wandered the streets aimlessly. The world was a vacuum of sound. Only the vibration of the rain hammering the pavement traveled up through the soles of my feet, a rhythmic thudding in my bones.

The world tilted. A wave of dizziness crashed over me, turning the streetlights into spinning streaks of light. My knees gave way, and I collapsed into the gutter.

Before the darkness took me completely, a pair of headlights sliced through the rain. A figure ran toward me, frantic and blurred.

Not Joshua.

Definitely not him.