Mary Johnson
To marry Lorenzo Vincenzo, I gave up my photography career. A dream I had held for ten years.
But on our fourth anniversary, I asked my sister Greer to draft the divorce papers.
She kept asking, over and over.
"Why would you leave Lorenzo? He's the top surgeon at St. Vincent's. Rich, gorgeous. Half the city is dying for a shot at him."
I swallowed the bitterness clawing up my throat. "Because of a gift."
Greer followed my gaze to the music box on the table. The card was in Elara's handwriting. Lorenzo's junior from med school.
[Thank you for flying out to do my aunt's surgery, senior. I know it was a long trip. You worked so hard. The little dancers on this music box remind me of us at graduation prom. Hope you like it, Lorenzo.]
That day, my father was in a car accident. I rushed him to St. Vincent's.
Only Lorenzo could do the surgery. I searched every floor of that hospital, every corridor. Nowhere. I told myself he must be on a business trip.
But no. He had left his post for Elara. The same man who once swore he would never abandon the OR for personal matters.
Finally, my father died on the table.
Greer pulled me into her arms. "The Vincenzo family owns this city. Their reach is everywhere. Where could you possibly go that he would not find you?"
I glanced at the flight confirmation on my phone.
"Three days. I am flying to Paris, to a photography studio there. And I will make sure he never, ever finds me."