They were Derek’s last days as a free man. Vanessa’s last days dreaming of living inside my walls. The poison’s last days working quietly in my blood. The lie’s last days believing it could bury me before I named it.
I was not the one who disappeared.
The mask did.
The plan did.
The greed did.
And when everything finally collapsed, I was still here—in my own house, breathing air that no longer tasted like metal, knowing that sometimes the difference between a widow and a survivor is one cup spilled at the right time.
