A Storm of Spices and Strength When Adrian told me his old friend Lucia was coming to stay with us for a few weeks, I forced a smile and said, “That sounds lovely.” I didn’t mean it. Not really. I barely knew her—just stories Adrian had shared. An old family friend from his childhood, someone with a “strong personality.” I imagined loud laughter, maybe dramatic hand gestures. What I got was something else entirely. Lucia arrived with a suitcase and a cloud of perfume so thick it clung to the

The Cost of Love Five years ago, Ava stood at the altar, wearing a white gown and a hopeful smile, ready to begin a new life with the man she thought would love her forever. But tonight, instead of flowers and champagne, her kitchen table held a cold, cruel surprise — a spreadsheet. A document that calculated, down to the last dollar, the supposed “cost” of her love. “There’s something important I need to talk about,” her husband Daniel said in a tense voice. Ava’s excitement for their anniversary night