Chapter 20 - The Empty Echo
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Julian thought he was a mastermind. He thought he was executing the perfect crime, leaving his naive, trusting family behind for eight days of uninhibited passion in the snowy mountains of Aspen. He believed he held all the cards, controlling the narrative with his expensive cologne, his fabricated business mergers, and his charming, sociopathic smiles.
Right now, he was probably sitting by a roaring fire in a luxury ski lodge, sipping expensive whiskey with Isabel, laughing about how easily he had pulled off the Tokyo illusion. He probably had his phone on silent, ignoring the ghost of his wife.
But time is a relentless hunter, and Julian’s eight days were already ticking down.
When he finally boarded his flight back to reality, when his town car pulled up to our dark, silent driveway, he would unlock the front door expecting the warm embrace of a family that only existed in his mind.
He would step into the foyer. He would call my name. He would call for Harrison.
The only thing that would answer him would be the hollow, deafening echo of his own voice bouncing off the bare walls. He would walk through the empty rooms, finding his suits, his watches, and his untouched wine, but he would find absolutely nothing left to love him.
May you like
He thought he was leaving his family for eight days. But when he finally came home, the only thing waiting for him in that massive, echoing house would be the devastating, lonely reality of the life he had chosen to risk.
And I would not be there to save him.
