Convenient Marriage, Shattered Dreams

My plane landed smoothly, yet my heart churned with a nervous hope.

I hadn' t told David I was coming, hoping to bridge the growing chasm in our two-year "convenient" marriage-a partnership built more on family connections than genuine affection.

But as I watched David Hayes' s assistant, Sarah Jenkins, casually link arms with him at the airport, her "smooth and practiced" voice oozing familiarity, a cold dread began to set in.

She looked like a model, not the efficient helper David had mentioned.