From that day on, everyone knew Ebony James had a best friend named Maud Fox.

No one dared bully her again.

We grew up together after that, inseparable as shadows. We did everything side by side.

Then last year, she lost her job and couldn't find a new one.

I was the one who offered.

"Why don't you just move in with me?"

"I'll tell everyone you're my live-in housekeeper. You won't have to lift a finger, and I'll pay you fifty thousand a month."

Ebony moved in, thrilled.

But slowly, the pieces started falling into place.

She had planned this all along, just waiting for me to make the offer myself.

"Well, I really should thank you, bestie."

Ebony let out a cold laugh and patted my cheek.

"If you hadn't given me that fifty-thousand-dollar salary, I'd still be out on the streets. Probably sweeping sidewalks somewhere."

"A best friend who gives me money, gives me a home, and is even scared enough to hand over her husband. I must have done something incredible in a past life to deserve this."

Every mocking word hit my ears like the prick of a needle.

I really had brought this on myself. Rolled out the red carpet for the wolf and dug my own grave.

Now I was reaping what I'd sowed, and I had no one else to blame.

"Ebony, what do I have to do for you to let me go?"

I closed my eyes in despair.

The next second, she tossed a document in front of me.

"Get Caspar to sign this divorce agreement, and I'll let you go."

I said nothing. I bent down and signed the divorce papers.

My body moved like a puppet on strings, hollow and mechanical.

Ebony examined the document carefully, then smiled with satisfaction.

She patted my shoulder, still smiling.

"For old times' sake, I'll let you stay here one last night."

"But remember from now on, don't wander into the wrong house. This is my home."

That night, as I lay in bed, the door was pushed open, slowly and carefully.

"Maud."

Caspar walked in with guilt written across his face and dropped to his knees in front of me.

"I'm sorry, Maud. I had another episode. I didn't recognize you earlier today."

He looked up at me, his eyes rimmed with red.

"I'll take my medication. I'll take so much of it. Please, can you forgive me?"

As he spoke, he fumbled with a pill bottle, grabbed a fistful of pills, and shoved them into his mouth.

Every other time I'd seen him do something this extreme, I would rush over with tears in my eyes, pull his hands away, hold him tight, and tell him:

It's not your fault. You're just sick.

But now, I only watched. Still and silent.

Memories from the past two years surfaced unbidden.

Caspar in the grip of an "episode," slashing me with a knife, trying to tear my face apart.

Mistaking some strange woman for me, then turning around and beating me with his fists.

But every time he "came to," he would hold me and sob, apologizing through his tears.

"Maud, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. Just wait a little longer. I'll get better."

I believed him. Again and again. I forgave him ninety-nine times.

I traveled to every remote temple and holy site I could find, dropping to my knees every three steps, not caring when they bled raw.

I tried every folk remedy under the sun, forcing down concoctions that made me retch until my throat burned.

I canceled every social engagement, stayed by his side day and night, terrified something would happen to him.

I thought sincerity could earn sincerity in return. I thought that one day, he would finally get better.

But what I got in return was him and my best friend, tangled together in our marriage bed.

And worse.

Even the illness had been an act.

Caspar choked down the fistful of pills, struggling to swallow. He failed, gagging, and broke into a fit of coughing.

"Maud, I'm trying so hard to take my medicine. I promise I'll get better soon..."

"I swear, once I'm better, I'll stay right by your side. I'll never see another woman again!"

I lowered my gaze and tugged at the corner of my lips.

Caspar had made that same promise countless times before. He'd even locked himself in his room once, refusing to let himself see other women.

I shook my head with regret.

Slowly, I reached into my bag and pulled out the neatly folded document, setting it gently on the nightstand.

"Caspar, I'm tired."

"This is the hundredth time. I don't want to keep doing this."

"Let's get a divorce."

His gaze drifted down to the words printed across the divorce agreement. Then his head snapped up.

His eyes were full of hurt and disbelief.

"What? Maud, why would you want a divorce?"

He scrambled toward me across the bed, desperate.

"Maud, please don't give up on me."

"We've made it through two years together. We've survived so much already. We're so close to the finish line."

"I have a feeling I'm going to get better soon..."

I watched him, my expression laced with quiet scorn.

His shoulders were practically trembling. He looked so terrified of losing me.

And yet every word out of his mouth was still a lie.

"Caspar." I cut him off. "I only want to ask you one thing."

"In these two years, have you ever lied to me?"

We had loved each other fiercely once. That was why I was willing to give him one last chance.

If he admitted it. If he confessed that he'd lied to me. If he laid everything bare, told me the whole truth.

I would forgive it all.

But Caspar fell silent for a moment, and when he finally spoke, what came out was:

"No. Maud, how could I ever lie to you?"

"I love you. More than anything."

In that instant, the last flicker of hope in my eyes died.

"Fine."

"Then there's nothing left to say."

The next morning, I left the divorce agreement behind. I packed a single suitcase, picked it up, and walked out.

Ebony threw five hundred dollars in my face. The bills grazed my skin, fluttered upward for a brief, weightless moment, then drifted to the floor.

"Take your money and get lost."

"And remember, don't ever come back. Because if I see you again, I'll make you regret it."

When Caspar came home, he was carrying the little cakes I loved and a crystal necklace.

Ebony's eyes lit up instantly. "Are those for me?"

Caspar frowned and pulled away from her reach.

"They're for my wife."

He ignored the shift in Ebony's expression and kept talking, almost to himself.

"This is your fault. You went too far last time."

"Maud is genuinely angry now. Don't show your face for the next couple of days. I need to make things right with her."

"You should've seen her. She cried so hard yesterday her eyes were all red, like a little rabbit."

His voice went unbearably soft as he said it.

"It broke my heart."

"Put the whole faking-sick thing on hold for a few days."

He held out a check.

"Here's a million dollars. Go have fun somewhere for a couple of weeks. Once Maud's cooled off, you can come back."

Ebony didn't reach for the check. She just smiled, slow and amused.

"Why don't you go find Maud yourself?"

She glanced lazily at the watch on her wrist.

"She left for the airport two hours ago. Heading overseas, from what I heard."

"She's probably already boarded by now." Her smile sharpened. "What, are you going to chase her across the ocean?"