Playing for Keeps Read Online Free Page A

publishing, which spits out writers like a hungry monster spitting out the bones of its prey. It wasn't until the fourth book in the series when her financial future turned around. Soon she was licensing foreign and movie rights and signed a contract for a TV show based on the characters. But, the brighter her light became, the darker his moods.
    They briefly moved to Washington, DC and found the artistic community welcoming. But after only six months Marshall felt it was a waste so they returned to New York. She tried to make him feel better by dedicating books to him, mentioning his support. But he continued to make dismissive remarks about her accomplishments the more success and praise came her way. Little did she know that he'd use those efforts against her. He'd said he'd make her pay if she ever divorced him and he'd been true to his word. In court he said he had done extensive research for the books, and managed all the money. Everyone she thought she could call a friend had testified against her and supported his claims. He'd been charming and she'd been left friendless.
    During the divorce, they'd painted her as a diva belittling her husband because he hadn't been as successful as she had. She'd learned how many of their friends had been jealous and delighted in seeing her fall. They'd all gone on the side of the winner and Marshall had definitely won. He'd never have to work another day in his life. And he could get credit for her success. She also knew that a supportive man was very en vogue and women would clamor after him. He appeared so loving and caring, when all he really was, was a parasite. And she'd loved him, that's what burned her the most. She'd loved him and wondered if he'd ever loved her.
    Stacy tried to eat, but then started to taste her tears and pushed the plate away. There was no use feeling sorry for herself, although she felt like a failure in everything; her career, her love life. She used to feel so sure of herself and now she didn't know who she was anymore. She'd made a mistake and chosen the wrong man and the wrong life and wished she could be given a second chance with someone else--a chance to be someone else. She looked around at her opulent surroundings. The grand estate had been for him; the cars, the clothes just so he could show off to people. She never needed it. Now he had the money and all the toys he wanted and she paid the bills. She wasn't broke, she'd invested well, but she couldn't write. That had been something that had made her feel whole and alive. Her creative side felt dead and had been so for three years.
    She lived like a recluse. But she wouldn't anymore. She would sell the grand house, she didn't even know why she'd kept it this long.
    Instead of finishing her dinner, Stacy decided to go up to the attic and look through some of her things. Maybe she could find something that could help her inspire and motivate the women in her class. She was tired of feeling down. She wanted a change, but didn't know how to make it happen. Everything seemed set. She was in a rut, her life turning into a living grave. She searched through a stack of papers packed in a small wooden box, when a small, green leather diary fell out. Stacy looked at it with amazement. She hadn't seen it in years. She couldn’t believe she'd kept it. She hurried back downstairs and sat on her bed and opened in.
    "He loves me so much. Today he took me ballroom dancing...and later, in the evening, we had a romantic dinner on a river cruise and..."
    "One of my scripts was made into an award winning production and he treated me to a five-star dinner at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City."
    "T.P. asked me to marry him."
    Stacy wiped her tears away and laughed. T.P? She wondered who she'd been thinking about then. What she had written seemed so far away. Had she made up someone or had it been someone she'd really imagined being with? She remembered creating this fake diary when she'd felt that her real life