Where Fireworks Faded to Embers

Yvan Ellison owns nearly half of Ember City's real estate, and for five years he has handed his wife Lucille a property every time he leaves her for Wren Smith, his true love. Lucille stopped crying and begging long ago. When the ninety-ninth transfer arrives, she quietly slips a divorce agreement into the papers he signs, then waits out the thirty days.

At Fairy Bridge, the promised fireworks are for Wren, not her. Cameras and crowds watch Yvan hold Wren close, and when Lucille is asked who she is, she calls herself his cousin, protecting the secret marriage his family insists on hiding. Rain scatters the crowd, and Yvan drives Wren home, leaving Lucille standing alone.

Back at the house, he thanks her for the cover story and promises to make up the fireworks next month, unaware that the document he signed has already begun the countdown to their end.