Chapter 4
Michael returned carrying a glass of water.
He saw my face.
Then he saw his phone.
He stopped.
I didn’t touch it.
I didn’t need to.
The screen was still glowing.
Rachel’s message sat between us.
Sarah deserves to know everything.
“What does she mean?” I asked.
Michael placed the water on the table.
“I don’t know.”
“Call her.”
“Sarah.”
“Call her.”
“There’s nothing else.”
“Then calling her should be easy.”
He stood perfectly still.
My knee throbbed beneath the ice pack.
Every part of me was tired.
But I wasn’t going to sleep inside another lie.
Michael picked up the phone.
He unlocked it.
Then he hesitated.
“Speaker.”
His jaw tightened.
“Fine.”
He called.
Rachel answered on the second ring.
“Michael?”
Her voice was soft.
Nervous.
He looked at me.
“Rachel, Sarah is here.”
Silence.
Then she exhaled.
“Good.”
My stomach turned.
Michael frowned.
“My mother called you?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I don’t know. Some number from the station.”
“What did she say?”
“That you finally threw her out.”
Michael closed his eyes.
“And?”
Rachel paused.
“That you told Sarah about me.”
“I told her we exchanged emails.”
Another silence.
This one was worse.
I stared at Michael.
Rachel said, “That’s all?”
My throat tightened.
Michael stood up.
“Rachel.”
“No.”
Her voice became firmer.
“If Sarah is there, I’m not helping you lie anymore.”
“I’m not lying.”
“Yes, you are.”
I whispered, “Tell me.”
Michael looked at me.
“Sarah—”
I raised my voice.
“Tell me.”
Rachel answered.
“We met once.”
The room tilted.
Michael shook his head.
“It wasn’t what you think.”
I almost laughed.
Every guilty person on earth must love that sentence.
“When?” I asked.
Rachel gave me a date.
April 14.
I remembered that day.
Michael told me he had dinner with a client.
He came home after eleven.
He kissed my forehead while I was already in bed.
I had asked if everything went well.
He said yes.
Now my hands were shaking again.
“Where?”
“Downtown,” Rachel said.
“A restaurant?”
“At first.”
At first.
My eyes stayed on Michael.
“What happened after?”
Rachel was quiet.
Michael stepped toward the phone.
“Nothing happened.”
“I didn’t ask you.”
He stopped.
Rachel finally said, “We walked for a while.”
“That’s it?”
“No.”
Michael whispered, “Rachel, don’t make this into something it wasn’t.”
“I’m telling the truth.”
“Then tell it accurately.”
“I am.”
I felt sick.
“What happened?”
“We kissed.”
The entire house disappeared.
For a few seconds, I heard nothing.
Not Michael.
Not Rachel.
Not the refrigerator humming in the kitchen.
Nothing.
I stared at the man I had slept beside for four years.
He looked terrified.
“Sarah.”
I held up my hand.
“How long?”
“What?”
“The kiss.”
“Seconds.”
I looked toward the phone.
“Rachel?”
She answered carefully.
“Maybe twenty seconds.”
Twenty seconds.
Such a small amount of time.
Such a huge thing to destroy.
“Who stopped?”
“I did,” Michael said.
Rachel didn’t contradict him.
I nodded.
My eyes burned.
“Did you meet again?”
“No,” Rachel said.
“Did you keep talking?”
“For another month.”
Michael sat down.
He looked like someone had removed every bone from his body.
I asked, “Did you ask him to leave me?”
“No.”
“Did he say he wanted to?”
“No.”
Michael looked at me desperately.
“I told you. I never wanted to leave you.”
I turned on him.
“You lied to my face for a year.”
“I know.”
“You let your mother live here because she knew.”
“I know.”
“You watched her mistreat me because you were scared she might expose you.”
His voice broke.
“I know.”
I hated those two words.
Rachel spoke again.
“Sarah, I’m sorry.”
“You knew he was married.”
“Yes.”
“Then don’t apologize like you accidentally bumped into me at a grocery store.”
She went silent.
I regretted nothing.
“Why are you telling me now?”
“Because Diane called me.”
“That’s not an answer.”
Rachel took a breath.
“She said she was going to tell you that Michael slept with me.”
Michael snapped, “What?”
“She said if she was going down, she was taking everyone with her.”
My stomach twisted.
“Did you sleep together?”
“No,” Rachel said immediately.
Michael said the same thing.
For once their answers matched.
Rachel continued.
“I told her I wouldn’t let her invent something worse. That’s why I texted.”
I rubbed my forehead.
My whole body felt bruised now.
“Anything else?”
“No.”
I looked at Michael.
“Anything else?”
He stared at the floor.
“No.”
I believed Rachel more than I believed him.
That was a terrible realization.
I ended the call.
Michael immediately moved closer.
“Sarah, listen to me.”
“No.”
“It was one mistake.”
“Don’t minimize it.”
“I’m not.”
“You called it exchanging emails ten minutes ago.”
His mouth closed.
“That was a lie.”
“Yes.”
“So why would I believe this is the final truth?”
“Because it is.”
I stared at him.
He cried.
Michael almost never cried.
Part of me wanted to comfort him.
That part made me angry.
“You need to leave.”
He looked stunned.
“What?”
“I need you out of the house tonight.”
“You’re hurt.”
“I can call my sister.”
“I’m not leaving you like this.”
“You left me alone with your mother for eight months.”
The words hit him.
He stood slowly.
“I deserve that.”
“Yes.”
“I’ll go.”
He walked toward the stairs.
Then stopped.
“Sarah.”
I looked at him.
“I love you.”
I almost wished he had said something else.
Because I still loved him too.
And that was the problem.
“Pack a bag.”
He went upstairs.
Twenty minutes later, my sister Emily arrived.
She took one look at my legs and started crying.
Then she saw Michael coming down with a suitcase.
Her sadness disappeared.
“What did you do?”
“Emily,” I said.
“No. Why is he leaving?”
Michael answered quietly.
“I lied to Sarah.”
“About his ex.”
Emily looked at me.
“Did he cheat?”
“He kissed her.”
Emily’s face changed.
Then she looked at Michael.
“Get out.”
He nodded.
“I’m going.”
“You let your mother beat my sister while you were hiding an affair?”
“It wasn’t an affair.”
Emily stepped toward him.
I grabbed her wrist.
“Don’t.”
She stopped.
Michael picked up his suitcase.
At the door, he turned around.
“I’ll answer every question when you’re ready.”
Then he left.
Emily locked the door behind him.
She sat beside me.
For a long time, neither of us spoke.
Then she said, “I’m staying.”
“You don’t have to.”
“Yes, I do.”
I leaned against her shoulder.
And finally cried.
Not from my legs.
Not from Diane.
From the realization that the marriage I thought I had never existed exactly the way I remembered it.
Around midnight, Emily went upstairs to get blankets.
I was alone when the doorbell rang.
My heart jumped.
I reached for my phone.
The bell rang again.
I checked the security app.
A woman stood on the porch.
Blonde hair.
Black coat.
I had never seen her before.
Then she looked directly into the camera.
“My name is Laura Bennett.”
I pressed the speaker button.
“What do you want?”
She glanced behind her.
“I’m Diane’s sister.”
Aunt Laura.
Michael had told me she and Diane hadn’t spoken in years.
I hesitated.
“What are you doing here?”
Her next words made every hair on my arms rise.
“You need to know why I stopped speaking to Diane.”
I didn’t answer.
May you like
Laura leaned closer to the camera.
“And you need to change the locks before she gets out.”
