Chapter Eleven #2
“This is so awful, Court.” I glanced behind her to all the kids happily laughing and playing.
None of them knew the true ugliness that existed beneath the surface of the world, and gods how I wished they’d never find out.
“There must be something we can do for Mrs. Williams. Even if it’s just reaching out and letting her know that she’s not alone. ”
“I still have the flyer she gave me with her number on it,” she confessed. “I’ll call her as soon as we get back home but...” She shook her head. “What can anyone say or do right now that’ll make her feel better?”
I didn’t give her an answer, because we already knew there was only one.
Sue’s phone went off, stealing my attention.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Sue?” Ringing bells and voices stacked on louder voices crowded Micah out. “Hey, can you hear me?”
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“It’s my pickup day for Lily, but it’s looking like I’m going to be late coming back,” he said. “This meeting is running long, but I can’t lose this potential client. Would you mind picking Lily up from—”
“Yes, I can do it,” I blurted. “I’ll pick her up and—and actually, I’m going to pull her out a few hours early.” I flashed Courtney my resolved face. “We’re enjoying a picnic at the park, and I want Lily to join us.”
“Yeah, whatever,” he breezed, springing a smile to my lips. “Just make sure you’re both back at the house by four, and that’s four o’clock our time, and not four o’clock Sue-time. Layton’s giving Lily these piano lessons for free, so don’t jerk him around.”
“Why don’t we just cancel the piano lessons?” I asked, slipping into the use of we quicker than I knew what to do with. “Nari said she’d rather learn the drums.”
“—right, yeah. Just a sec— Sue? Sue,” he called.
If possible, it was getting even louder on his end.
It sounded like someone was straight up screaming.
“Look, I’ve got to go, but it’s a hard no on switching instruments again.
The deal was Lily would stick with the piano for three months, and then if she wasn’t into it, she could try another instrument. It hasn’t even been three weeks.
“Stop letting her play you, Sue, and start knowing what the hell’s going on with our kid.”
“Yes,” I said easily. “That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
“All right, I’ll see you and that tasty pussy tonight. Keep it sweet, wet, and ready for me.”
My face caught fire. “Micah!”
“Buh-bye,” he signed off, laughing himself off the phone.
I rolled my eyes even as a giggle escaped my lips. Keep my pussy ready for him? That was something else I was going to do.
“DID YOU HAVE FUN TODAY?”
“Yeah!” Lily shrieked, throwing her hands up. “Auntie Courtney is the best, Mommy! She said I get free cupcakes from her shop whenever I want them!”
“Yes, she did say that, and it’s the best news you’ve gotten all day because you’re a sugar fiend!”
“No!”
“It’s true,” I carried on. We turned down the final street leading to home. “You’re the sugar bandit! The sugar swindler! The sugar master. The Sugar Claus,” I belted. “You better be nice, not naughty, or the Sugar Claus is coming for your cookies! And those elves better watch out too.”
“Ahhh!” Lily squealed, laughing so hard she tipped over in her booster seat. “Mommy, you’re silly!”
“No, you’re the silly one.”
“No, you’re the silly one!”
This kicked off a repetitive, but hilarious, back-and-forth that had both our sides in stitches. I only stopped when we rumbled through the gates and I saw Mr. Layton standing on the front steps, waving at us.
A glance at the clock told me it was fifteen minutes before four, so we weren’t late. “Even so, we’ve got to put our sillies away now, Lily,” I told her. “Your teacher is being very nice and giving you free lessons on his own time, so we’ve got to be serious.”
“Aww, okay.” She sat up, a pout stealing away her smile. “But can we be silly after?”
I reached back and tickled her, teasing out another squealing giggle. “We can absolutely be silly after. Tell you what, when you’re done with your lesson, we can have a spa afternoon with nail polish, face masks, and big, fluffy robes.”
“Okay!”
I stopped the car, then twisted around in my seat to unbuckle her.
“I like you. You’re much better than my old mommy.”
My grin vanished like a dewdrop in the desert. “Wha—”
Lily wiggled free and shot out of the car. “Hi, Mr. C! Mommy took me to the park!”
“Lily, wait!” I yanked and struggled with the seat belt, fighting to get out. She couldn’t have said— No, she said it! She said old mommy, but that couldn’t be what she meant. I have to—
“—talk to you.” I tumbled out of the car. “Lily, come back, please. I—”
The front door flew open.
Lily waved hello to Alex on her way inside. Mr. Layton followed, with me just as quick on her heels.
A hand flew out and smacked the doorjamb, blocking my path. “You took Lily out of school early.” It wasn’t a question.
“I did after running it by Micah.” I rocked from foot to foot—eager to get past. “Courtney and a bunch of the moms were having a picnic in the park with their kids, so I—”
“Couldn’t let them go without giving them a chance to invest in a new and exciting SueNation investment opportunity,” he finished. Alex had an odd smirk on his lips that was really creeping me out. “Can’t blame ya.”
I bristled. “It wasn’t like that. The only thing we invested in were a couple of new breakouts and several new pounds from a whole tray of maple bacon cupcakes.
I’m not running some con with Lily as the closer,” I said.
“If you must know, I’m done with SueNation for good.
I’ve even got some job interviews lined up, so as long as one of them pans out, I’ll be able to work from home and bring in some income while still being here for Lily and Omma. ”
The smirk vanished. “You...? You, Soo Min Kim, have job interviews lined up? Real ones?”
“Yes, real ones,” I returned hotly. “I was banging my head against the wall trying to think of something I could do from home without drawing a lot of lawsuits-and-bird-poop hate, when the answer hit me over the head.
“Captioning.”
Alex stared at me. “Caption... ing.”
“Exactly.” Excitement bled into my voice.
“K-Pop and Korean dramas are getting more and more popular every day, and what do all of these production and music companies need? People fluent in English, Spanish, French, and so on to caption their videos. Seriously, I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before.
Everything I read online says I can bring in an extra fifteen hundred dollars a month. ”
“And you’d really work for that little?” His brows crumpled. “You spend two thousand a month just on makeup.”
“Not anymore. It’s time we both start tightening up around here—be a better example for Lily.” I pointed. “Starting with rehiring the groundspeople, housekeepers, gardeners, and cooks. I am very much done with the haunted house vibe. Time for the manor to be a home for living people again.”
Amusement etched into the lines of his face, flicking my eyes to the early morning stubble still lingering on his jaw.
Only Alex could make bike shorts, rumpled sweatshirts, and jaw scruff sexy.
“I agree, but the last time I brought it up, you said you weren’t going to waste any more money on this overgrown outhouse, because you were just going to throw all of us out, sell it, and buy yourself a chateau in France with your new lover. ”
I cocked a brow. “Alexander Montgomery, we’ve been married for seven years. When are you going to learn to ignore the stupid shit that comes out of my mouth?” I asked, startling a laugh out of him. “You want to know why this place is an outhouse? You’re looking at her.”
He doubled over—cracking up and clearly surprised to be doing so. “That was a good one,” Alex wheezed, straightening up. “But self-deprecating humor doesn’t make up for lying straight to my face. You see?” His laugh lines melted away. “I knew this new nice-Sue routine was all bullshit.”
“What? Lying? When did I lie?”
Alex’s eyes narrowed to slits. “Two fucking days ago, I told you we don’t allow Lily to have playdates with people we don’t all know.
Not after that whackjob invited Lily to his daughter’s birthday party, and then tried to grab and drag her into the bathroom while everyone else was distracted by the cake. ”
“Whackjob?” My eyes bugged. “I had no idea—”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” he exploded, blowing my eyes wide.
“You were the one distracted in a corner, messing around on your phone when Lily’s screams brought everyone else running!
But no, that wasn’t you,” he mocked, putting on a voice.
“It was her other mother who failed to keep an eye on her then. Just like it was her other mother that stood in that kitchen and promised she’d respect my boundaries with Lily, and then turned around and did whatever the fuck she wanted anyway. ”
I quieted, shrinking lower and lower in Sue’s gold-lace wedges.
“Not only did you take her out to a picnic with some best friend who you’ve never mentioned or spoken of in ten years, but you pulled her out of school to do it. It’s like I asked you not to do the most irresponsible thing ever, and you went and said, now I’m going to do it even harder.”
“Alex, please,” I whispered. “I didn’t see it that way. I didn’t mean to—”
“You’ll never change.” The words pierced my heart.
“No matter how much I want to believe it. No matter how many times I convince myself to give you another chance. It’s always going to be nothing but lies to my face, deception behind my back, and fake tears and amnesia when you’re caught.
I’m done, Sue.” Turning around, Alex walked away. “I’m just done.”
I stood there for a beat, then I cleared my throat, picked up my feet, and walked past the receiving room and the strangled piano chords floating out of it.
I made it all the way to the bathroom door before I started crying.
CLANG! CLUNG! CLANG!