Promises and Pomegranates by Sav R. Miller

annulment papers? Because I’m pretty sure I recognize your signature, given
that I saw it the day I signed our marriage license.”
Shifting awkwardly, Kal’s sister widens her eyes, inching away from the
concrete. “I think I’d better go...”
Kal nods, waving her off. And when she disappears, leaving us alone, my
body buzzes with unending electric energy, zinging through my veins like a
hot current. I brighten under his perusal for the first time in weeks.
Like a fucking flower deprived of the sun overnight, my heart opens up
for him, seeking nutrients where maybe there are none.
Maybe it was premature of me to fly back here.
No response is still a response, right? Two weeks without hearing from
him, and maybe that was his way of ending things.
Annulment papers are definitely a response, but still.
If he wants to end this marriage, the least he can do is tell me to my face.
“You look good,” he says after a couple beats, casually roving his gaze
over my form—I feel his appreciation in the tips of my fingers, little sparks
of pleasure scattering to the surface.
“Don’t give me that. I don’t want your compliments. Tell me why you’re
trying to get rid of me.”
When the papers showed up at Nonna’s apartment, it was a two-for-one
sucker punch; proof that Kal did, in fact, know where I was hiding and hadn’t
bothered to come see me, but also the added insult of him giving me an out of
our marriage.
One that, months ago, I probably would’ve jumped at the chance for.
But a lot can change in a few months.
I sat with it for a while, staring at his signature and the final submission
date for filing. The documents cited fraud as the reason, stating that Kal had
manipulated me into the union, and that he took full responsibility for the
devious nature of how the marriage came to be.
And while all of that’s true, it no longer negates what happened after we
married.
The comfort, solace, and acceptance I found in the arms of this killer.
My obsession. My ruin.
My husband.
Steepling his fingers together, he leans back in his chair, blowing out a
breath. “I thought it would be what you wanted, little one. Freedom. You’re
young, you deserve the chance to experience what life has to offer.”