Chapter 2: The Marriage He Pretended To Have
I didn’t cry that night.
That surprised me.
I thought heartbreak would feel like screaming.
I thought betrayal would feel like collapsing.
Instead, it felt strangely quiet.
Like standing in a house after a storm, looking at everything that had been destroyed but still standing.
Michael followed me outside after the police separated everyone.
“Sarah, please.””
I kept walking.
“Please what?””
He stopped.
“Please let me explain.””
I turned around.
“Eight months, Michael.””
His face tightened.
“I was going to tell you.””
“When?””
He opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
I laughed softly.
“That’s what I thought.””
My father stood nearby, watching him carefully.
Michael looked at him.
“This is between me and my wife.””
Dad shook his head.
“No. The moment you lied to my daughter, it became my business.””
Michael’s jaw tightened.
“You attacked me.””
Dad stepped forward.
“I saw my son-in-law holding another woman and telling her he was single.””
Michael looked away.
That was the answer.
The blonde woman was sitting on a bench nearby.
Her name was Emily.
She looked embarrassed.
Broken.
Almost as confused as I was.
I walked toward her.
“Did you know about me?””
She wiped her tears.
“He said you were his wife legally, but that you hadn’t been together for months.””
I stared at her.
“We lived together.””
Her face changed.
“What?””
“He had breakfast with me every morning.””
Emily covered her mouth.
“I didn’t know.””
And somehow, that hurt almost as much.
Because she wasn’t the villain I wanted her to be.
She was another person Michael had lied to.
When I got home, I sat on the edge of my bed and stared at the room I had shared with my husband for seven years.
His watch was on the nightstand.
His jacket was hanging by the door.
His shoes were still beside mine.
Everything looked normal.
Except nothing was.
At 2:14 in the morning, my phone rang.
It was Michael.
I stared at the screen until it stopped.
Then it rang again.
I answered.
“What?””
His voice was softer.
“Sarah, I know you hate me right now.””
“No. I’m trying to understand how I lived with a stranger.””
Silence.
Then he said something that made my blood run cold.
“There’s something you don’t know.””
I sat up.
“What?””
“I wasn’t downtown tonight by accident.””
My eyebrows pulled together.
“What does that mean?””
He took a deep breath.
“Someone wanted you to find out.””
My stomach tightened.
“Who?””
Before he answered, another voice came through the phone.
A woman.
Not Emily.
Someone older.
Someone familiar.
“Michael, hang up.””
My entire body froze.
Because I knew that voice.
It belonged to someone who had been sitting at my family table for years.
“Who is with you?”” I whispered.
May you like
Michael didn’t answer.
Then the call ended.
