Chapter 34
CHAPTER 34: THE MIRROR
Emma stood in the bathroom, washing her face before bed.
She turned off the water and patted her skin dry with a towel. She looked up at her reflection in the glass.
She traced the faint lines at the corners of her eyes. They were smile lines now. Earned through laughter, not carved by exhaustion.
She looked down at her left hand.
The heavy, extravagant, two-carat diamond ring that Michael had proposed with was gone.
Three months ago, they had gone to a small, independent jeweler. They traded in the massive diamond—a ring Diane had actually picked out and approved because it reflected the "proper status."
In its place, Emma now wore a simple, hammered gold band. No diamonds. No sharp edges. Just a continuous, unbreakable circle.
She ran her thumb over the warm gold.
She didn't recognize the terrified, shrinking woman she had been five years ago. That woman was a ghost.
The woman in the mirror had dirt under her fingernails from the garden. She had a crooked clay bowl on her counter. She had a husband who knew how to sweep up broken plates.
Emma turned off the bathroom light.
May you like
She didn't check the locks on the doors. Michael had already checked them.
She didn't brace herself for tomorrow. She just looked forward to it.
