DAMIEN'S CONTRACT WIFE
And then there was Damien himself, gone before I woke, yet present in the background of my thoughts.
Our marriage was supposed to be simple and contractual. Yet his arrival at the hospital yesterday had blurred those lines in ways I wasn’t ready to examine.
I arrived at Blackwood with minutes to spare, smoothing my blouse and forcing a professional mask into place.
Richard greeted me with his usual sharp insight, the partnership discussion moving forward amid discussions of cases and responsibilities. But even as I nodded and contributed, my mind wandered back to the hospital room, to my father’s tired smile and desperate whisper. Margaret Ellison. The name felt like a key to a door I hadn’t