I stepped out of the hillside mansion as the sky was just beginning to lighten, pulling my heavy suitcase behind me.
A thin mist hung over the road, and the morning air felt cool and fresh with dew.
I glanced back at the grand, cold house, and felt not even the smallest urge to stay.
On the bedside table in the master bedroom, I'd left two final things.
One was the second card linked to Killian's account. Every available cent had been withdrawn and turned into gold.
The other was the notebook I'd filled over those three years. Page after page listed every payment clearly:
Day three of the silent treatment: twenty thousand. Four gold beads were made.
On the first day, Ms. Kesswick moved in, humiliation: fifty thousand. Ten gold beads were made.
Water thrown at the gala, public
