Chapter 126

• I come awake and remain suspended in a dreamlike state for the longest moment, teetering between reality and the slurring dullness of sleep. I am alone on my huge bed and my head is pounding with the hangover migraine that I hate enough to have quit drinking. I only drink when I am undergoing serious stress. So I decluttered my life in a way that I would rarely be in that position. But here we are. With a chilling kind of clarity, I realise that I have been drinking more and more since I married Christine. The stress just piles up.
• Even before Aleen came into the picture. There is always something with Christine. Some social event she must have me attend with her to save face or uphold her social standing. I was happy to do it, but over time, it just became a chore. All that posturing. It sickened me. I built my wealth with brutal hardwork, all that social posturing didn't matter to me.
• I run through my memory and realise with a drop of my heart rate that I dreamed up Aleen showing up here. My last memory is of me collapsing against her. She held me and she was warm and loving and sweet. All the things I am certain she wouldn't be even if she comes here for any reason.