Chapter 35 Andrew
“My father,” Emily whispers, her voice breaking.
Confusion scrambles through my mind. “Your father?” I repeat, needing to hear it again to make sure I didn’t misinterpret her words.
She nods, her gaze cast downward. “He’s been in the hospital these last few days. It was a stroke.”
Shock roots me in place. “You didn’t tell me?”
Emily’s eyes flicker with guilt. “It’s not the only thing I didn’t tell you. He wasn’t traveling, Andrew. He had a major stroke almost ten months ago. He’s been at home ever since, in a coma. We hoped he’d wake up, but now…”
Her voice cracks, and she can’t finish the sentence. Tears spill down her cheeks, and she looks small, fragile.
Before I can process it all, she starts to cry, and instinctively, I pull her into my arms. She shakes, her grief raw and deep, and I hold her but my mind is reeling.
Her father has been in a coma all this time? Not overseas? The man she mentioned in passing, always ‘somewhere else,’ was actually fighting for his life at home.
A surge of disbelief twists in my gut, and I struggle to keep it from showing on my face.
The woman I’m holding in my arms, the one I thought I knew, feels like a stranger in this moment. All this time, she’s been carrying this, hiding it from me.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask her, drawing back to look at her face.
“He didn’t want anyone to know. He made my mother and I promise to keep it a secret,” Emily says.
Lisa taps on her shoulder. “We need to sort out a few things.”
There are practical arrangements to be made and I trail after the three women around the hospital. I’m shocked and frankly desperate to get out of here .
Finally, we leave. Outside, Emily says, “I have to go home with my mother.”
I nod, relief surging through me. Right now, I can’t bear to look at her.
I watch her go, her form disappearing down the hallway with her mother and Lisa by her side, and the relief is almost overwhelming.
The weight of what I’ve just learned presses down on me, suffocating and raw. I need air.
Outside, the cool night air bites against my skin, but it does little to ease the storm inside me. I lean against the car, struggling to process everything she just told me.
Her father, the man she spoke of as if he were traveling the world, was in a coma this whole time. I’d never questioned her stories, never thought to.
Every time she said she was visiting her mother, I’d assumed it was exactly that. But all along, she’d been going to see her father. It makes sense now.
The disappearances, the way Emily would sometimes look as if she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders.
What doesn’t make sense is the lies. Why? Why would you lie to a man you were married to? A man you claimed to love. Hurt wedges itself deep in my chest.
A part of me tries to understand, to make sense of her secrecy. She said her father didn’t want anyone to know, that it was his wish.
But she was my wife, wasn’t she? Shouldn’t that have meant something? Shouldn’t she have trusted me enough to share that part of herself, of her life?
The anger simmering beneath the shock builds. This wasn’t a small omission; it was a lie woven into every interaction, every moment we spent together.
And all those times I’d been there, wanting to support her, to get closer to her, she kept me at arm’s length with a story that wasn’t real .
I shake my head, running a hand through my hair. The realization stings. I don’t know her as well as I thought I did. The truth is I don’t know Emily, at all.
After a few deep breaths, I get into the car and sit there, gripping the steering wheel tightly. I’d wanted a partner who’d be open with me, someone I could trust unconditionally.
And like an idiot, I thought I’d found it with Emily. Intense pain rumbles through me.
Was it all a lie? The pretense at having feelings for me? Memories sear my heart. Us lying in bed after making love. Talking. Opening our hearts to each other.
What had Emily been thinking at the time? Had it all been a game to her? Pain ripples across my chest in waves.
Unable to face the emptiness of home, the place now haunted by every memory I’ve made with Emily, I find myself at the Bennett Developers offices instead.
There’s a faint glow coming from Daniel’s office down the hall, the only light in the building.
I push open his door, and Daniel looks up, surprised. “What are you doing here at this hour?”
I manage a shrug. “Could ask you the same thing.”
He sighs, rubbing his neck. “Trying to finish some work.” He pauses, then adds, “You look like hell, Andrew. What’s going on?”
I step in, my resolve wavering as I take a seat. Daniel’s the last person I’d ever want to open up to, but right now, I don’t think I can hold this in alone. The truth tumbles out, raw and strained.
“Emily’s father is dead.”
Daniel’s eyes widen, his brow furrowing. “Dead? But wasn’t he traveling?”
“That’s what I thought too,” I say bitterly. “But he’s been here the whole time, in a coma. Since before we even got married.”
Shock flashes across Daniel’s face. He shakes his head slowly. “A coma? And you didn’t know? ”
I let out a humorless laugh, rubbing my hands over my face. “All these months. I was there, by her side, while she told me he was overseas, off on some trip. Meanwhile, he was here. Fighting to survive.” The words taste bitter. “And I didn’t even know.”
Daniel lets out a low whistle, taking it all in. “Wow. I don’t even know what to say.”
“Everything I thought I knew about her was a lie. How do I trust her now?”
Daniel leans forward, watching me carefully. “She must’ve had her reasons, Andrew. And you said they were following his wishes to keep it a secret. But yeah, it’s a hell of a thing to find out like this.” He pauses, searching my face. “You need a drink. Come on. I’ll keep you company.”
I nod, needing the break from my own spinning thoughts, and follow him as we head out to a nearby bar.
We find a quiet corner, away from the noise. I order a whiskey, while Daniel sticks to water.
As the amber liquid burns its way down, my mind turns back to Emily. “She should have told me, Daniel. I’m her husband. I should have been part of this.”
Daniel leans back, his face thoughtful. “Maybe she didn’t know how. Or maybe she thought you wouldn’t understand.”
I look up sharply. “Why wouldn’t I understand?”
Daniel shrugs. “The need for secrecy. I imagine she would have had to swear you to secrecy and knowing you, I don’t know if you would have agreed.”
“That’s not the kind of secret you keep. The man was in a coma. How can you keep that from people you consider family?”
Every time I think of the magnitude of the lie, it baffles me. I just don’t get it. Daniel is right. I would never have been party to such a lie.
I motion to the waiter for two double whiskies, draining them faster than I should. The alcohol hits my veins, my body warm and numb .
“Maybe you should get some water now,” Daniel says, eyeing me with concern.
I order two more doubles and drain them in less than five minutes. I’m probably getting drunk, but I don’t care. I just need something to numb the pain in my body.
“You’re slurring,” Daniel says at some point. “Seriously, get some water now.”
I laugh. “That’s you saying that I should get some water?”
Daniel doesn’t laugh. “Listen, I know what it feels like to use alcohol to cover up your pain or shame. Trust me bro, it doesn’t help. It makes everything a lot worse than it is and makes you do really stupid things.”
I stared at him incredulously. “What am I going to do? Go to Emily when she’s mourning her father and tell her what? That’s she’s a liar? An imposter? Cold hearted?”
A thought crosses my mind. Something I hadn’t thought of before. Another laugh leaves my mouth. “My she’s good. She had us all fooled. The only thing Emily is interested in saving is her father’s precious company.”
I grip Daniel’s hand. “What woman would agree to marry her fiancé’s brother after he ditched her?” I shake my head at how deep in the sand my head had been.
“I don’t think that’s fair,” Daniel starts to say.
“No, what’s not fair is how stupid I was,” I continue, then take a generous sip of my whiskey.
The pain is gone. I feel nothing.
“I’m guessing this is the wrong time to put some sense into you,” Daniel says with a sigh.
I shake my head, bitterness creeping in. “I was supposed to be there for her. To support her through anything. I thought we had that kind of marriage. But I’m nothing more than a stranger to her. ”
Words leave my mouth without my brain filtering them. “She doesn’t even love me,” I mutter, barely coherent. “I was just convenient.”
“Alright, that’s enough, man. Come on, I’m getting you out of here.” Daniel gets up and pulls me to my feet.
I stumble, my legs shaky, the room spinning slightly, as Daniel grips my arm and he leads me out.
The night air is cool against my face, and as I half-collapse into the passenger seat, Daniel chuckles dryly. “Guess I’m driving.”
I sink back into the seat, the alcohol thick in my veins, the hurt buried somewhere I can’t reach for now. I close my eyes, letting the world blur around me, glad for the silence.