Chapter 4: What My Sister Knew
I read the message three times.
Not because I didn’t understand the words.
Because I understood them perfectly.
“Don’t worry. She still doesn’t know what we did.””
My sister’s name sat above it.
Rebecca.
My little sister.
The woman whose rent I had paid when she lost her job.
The woman who had stood beside me at my wedding.
The woman who called Michael “the brother I never had.””
I looked up.
“What did you do?””
Michael reached for the phone.
I pulled it away.
“Sarah.””
“What did you and Rebecca do?””
“It isn’t what you think.””
I laughed.
“You cheated on me for eight months, and now I find secret messages between you and my sister. I’m running out of innocent explanations.””
Michael glanced down the hallway.
“Can we talk inside?””
“No.””
“Your neighbors can hear us.””
“Good.””
His eyes snapped back to mine.
“For once, maybe embarrassment will make you tell the truth.””
His jaw tightened.
“Rebecca knew about Emily.””
I stared at him.
“How?””
“She saw us together.””
“When?””
“Six months ago.””
My stomach turned.
Six months.
Rebecca had known for six months.
“She confronted me,” Michael continued.
“She threatened to tell you.””
“But she didn’t.””
“No.””
“Why?””
Michael hesitated.
I stepped closer.
“Why?””
“Because I told her something.””
“What?””
He rubbed the back of his neck.
“That our marriage was already over.””
I almost slapped him.
Instead, I gripped the doorframe.
“You came home every night.””
“I know.””
“You slept beside me.””
“I know.””
“You kissed me goodbye.””
“I know.””
“Stop saying you know!””
My voice echoed down the hallway.
A door opened somewhere upstairs.
Michael lowered his voice.
“I told Rebecca I was waiting for the right time.””
“And she believed you?””
“At first.””
“At first?””
He looked away.
That tiny movement made my skin crawl.
“There’s more.””
“Of course there is.””
I handed him the phone.
“Call her.””
“What?””
“Rebecca. Call her.””
“Sarah, that’s not a good idea.””
“Call my sister.””
He didn’t move.
So I took out my own phone.
Rebecca answered on the fourth ring.
“Hey, Sarah.””
Her voice was cheerful.
Too cheerful.
I stared directly at Michael.
“Where are you?””
A pause.
“At home. Why?””
“I’m coming over.””
Another pause.
“Is everything okay?””
“You tell me.””
Silence.
“Sarah—”
“Michael showed me the message.””
Nothing.
Not even breathing.
Then Rebecca whispered, “What message?””
That was when I knew.
Not suspected.
Knew.
“The one where you said I still didn’t know what you two did.””
Michael muttered, “Sarah…”
I raised one finger.
He stopped.
Rebecca finally spoke.
“Please don’t come here angry.””
My chest tightened.
“What did you do?””
“I can explain.””
“Then explain.””
“Not over the phone.””
Twenty minutes later, I was standing outside my sister’s apartment.
Michael had insisted on coming.
I told him to stay in the car.
He didn’t argue.
Rebecca opened the door wearing sweatpants and one of my old college hoodies.
Seeing it almost broke me.
I had given her that hoodie ten years earlier.
She hugged it around herself.
“Come in.””
Her apartment smelled like coffee and vanilla candles.
Family photographs covered the wall.
There was one of Rebecca and me at my wedding.
Michael stood behind us in the picture.
I turned away.
Rebecca sat on the couch.
“I’m sorry.””
“For which part?””
Her eyes filled.
“For not telling you about Emily.””
“Six months, Rebecca.””
“I thought he was going to leave her.””
“That’s supposed to make it better?””
“No.””
“Then why protect him?””
Rebecca wiped her cheek.
“Because I needed him.””
The room seemed to shift.
“What does that mean?””
She looked toward her kitchen.
“I got into trouble last year.””
“What kind of trouble?””
“Financial.””
I frowned.
Rebecca had told me she was doing well.
She had even taken me to dinner for my birthday.
“I owed money,” she said.
“A lot.””
“How much?””
“Forty-two thousand dollars.””
I stared at her.
“To whom?””
Her eyes dropped.
“Michael paid it.””
I felt something cold spread through me.
“With what money?””
“I don’t know.””
“Rebecca.””
“I swear.””
“Why would my husband secretly give you forty-two thousand dollars?””
Her face crumpled.
“Because he said you could never know.””
I stood.
Suddenly, I needed air.
Rebecca followed me.
“Sarah, please.””
“Was that what the message meant?””
She shook her head.
“No.””
I turned slowly.
“Then what did you two do?””
Rebecca started crying harder.
“I helped him hide something.””
“What?””
She pressed both hands against her face.
Before she could answer, someone knocked.
Three slow knocks.
Rebecca froze.
“Are you expecting someone?””
“No.””
The knocking came again.
Harder.
I walked toward the door.
Rebecca grabbed my wrist.
“Sarah, don’t.””
“Why?””
Her face had gone pale.
“Because if that’s who I think it is, Michael didn’t come here to explain anything.””
May you like
She looked toward the window.
“He came to stop me from telling you where the money really came from.””
