At the door I looked back once, at the two stunned faces, at the ruins of a marriage that had lasted a single day.

They thought I was walking into nothing.

They had no idea what they had just done.

Chapter 5 — The Sidewalk

The carved gate of the Alderidge house clicked shut behind me, locking me out of my twenty-four-hour marriage, and I stood on the sidewalk and breathed.

I did not hurry away like a heartbroken bride.