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I was a deception. An enticing promise of worthy content. But when you really looked, it was nothing but false advertising. Not at all what you thought it was going to be. I’d sold Adrian on something that didn’t exist. I hadn’t done it on purpose, but he’d been misled nonetheless.

I should have known he was too good to be true. I should have looked for the reason a man like that would be willing to love someone like me. It was because he didn’t know any better.

And now he did.

The implications were too enormous to think about. So I didn’t. I showered, grabbed a shitty coffee at the gas station, and went to see my sister.

Annabel wasn’t expecting me, and I didn’t know if she’d see me. I checked in at the front desk and they buzzed me in.

When she came out into the visitors’ area and saw me, she paused for a moment. Then she pressed her lips into a line and dropped into the chair across from mine.

“Hey,” I said.

She crossed her arms. “Hey.”

We sat there in a tense silence.

She seemed tired, but her eyes were clear. She wore a clunky sweatshirt and gray sweatpants. Her blond hair was up in a messy ponytail. She looked thin. Almost gaunt.

“Are you eating?” I asked.

“The food here is shit,” she mumbled.

“Do you want me to get you some protein bars or something?”

She shrugged and looked away, picking at a small tear in the arm of her recliner.

“How’s your shoulder?” I asked.

“Fine, I guess,” she muttered. “They won’t give me anything so…”

“Well, no. You’re in rehab,” I said sarcastically.

She ignored me.

“Grace is doing well,” I offered.

She didn’t reply.

“I called you,” I said. “A lot.”

She pursed her lips. “I didn’t want to talk to you.”

“And why?”

“Because you’re a liar.”

I scoffed. “And how’s that exactly? Because I refused to unconditionally fund your bender?”

She leveled her eyes on me. Sharp blue eyes. Grace’s eyes.

“So where’s your brace?” she asked.

I blinked at her. “What?”

She glared at me. “Your brace. For your hand.”

I shifted in my seat. I’d never worn it in front of her. I’d never worn it in front of anyone except for Adrian.