est stick were the most bea

ainst my ribs. After five years of marriage, five years o

preg

and placed it carefully into a small gift box. This was

uld be s

t always made my own heart feel full. He talked about our future family all the tim

ldn't wait. I couldn't tell him over the phone. I had to see his face. I grabbed my keys, my purse, and the li

he thick Persian rugs. I wanted it to be a perfect surprise. The door to his study was slightly ajar, a slive

t. Liam could be the first to congratulate us. I crept closer, my

avid' s words, and

r find out, Li

him use when talking about me. A cold feeli

his is insane. Five years. You' ve bee

pped back. "Rebecca understand

be

ggling artist my family' s charity had once sponsored. David had always spoken of her with a

David! Your actual wife!" Liam

breathe. I pressed my ear flat against the

iam asked, his v

h. "Sarah is... she' s different. I do love her, in my own

a casual cruelty that felt like a physical blow.

r argument. "She gave me Thomas. He' s my son, my heir. Everything I'

son. He

t heavy, obscene. My surprise, my jo

de a deal. She gets the status, the security. Thomas gets ev

sgusted. "You' re lying to everyone. Wh

breath, my ears straining, needing

sed with me. The tone that made me believe every lie he ever told. "But she' s not my wife. She was nev

in the air,

tre

om my face. My entire marriage, my entire life for the past five years, was a lie. A carefully

The woman he kept for fun while his real wife and his real son l

ouldn' t think. I couldn' t feel. There was only the sound of his voice, echoing in

child of a man who ha