Chapter 28
Richard shuts off the main light.
Maybe it's his tactic to intimidate me; the under-counter LEDs cast him in that cold kitchen glow that sharpens his jaw, his posture, and his anger.
He stands there, letting the words hang, and for a moment I'm just trying to just catch my breath.
When my voice comes out, it's barely there: "You track my records?"
"I track everything," he says flatly. "Especially when someone starts lying to me."
My mouth goes slack. I don't know what to say, apart from maybe this is the moment I should finally stop lying.
"Richard, I'm sorry. I know this looks bad—it is really bad—but I want to tell you everything," I say desperately.
He takes one step forward toward me. "Let me make something very, very clear. Whatever phase you're in, it ends today." Another step. "You are my wife. Act like it."
My brain stalls. "I'm sorry, what?"
"You heard me," he says—flat and infallible. "Your little affair ends today. You won't ever see him again."
My pulse spikes and I curl my fist. "You don't get to tell me if I see him or not!"
He pauses, smiling to himself. "Do you know what I can do to him, Emma?
One call, and his career's gone. I know people on the hospital board, the medical council.
You think I'd let someone humiliate me and walk away unscathed?
I'm seriously considering destroying him.
But... I might think twice if you get sensible. "
"Stop it, Richard," I say instantly, scowling at him. "This has nothing to do with Ben. It's my fault. I... I seduced him."
Richard flinches, then looks at me with pure disgust, his nostrils flaring.
My face falls, letting him see I didn't mean to hurt him—but it's too late for that.
I clutch my head, as if sense could be squeezed out of my temples. "How long have you known?"
His head tilts, cool as a scalpel. "Why does it matter?"
"It matters!" I burst, slumping on the barstool. "Because we sat here a month ago, and you knew, and said nothing—just played me for a fool."
He gives me a short disdainful laugh. "I played you for a fool? Don't insult me. You won't like me when I flip."
Instinctively, I pull back, even though I don't think Richard would hurt me.
"You scare me when you talk like that," I admit.
"Good," he says coolly. "Fear keeps people honest."
My face flattens. "And what you did is also not okay in a marriage. That's surveillance."
His brow cocks. "So that justifies spreading your legs for someone else? Sleeping around with 'an old friend that wasn't really an old friend, and you guys have nothing in common now?'"
The blow lands dead center as humiliation detonates, crawling up my chest in red guilty blotches.
"No," I choke. "Nothing justifies that."
"Here’s what’s happening," he says, lowering himself onto the stool beside me and pinning me with a measured gaze. "We're going back to Seattle. We're starting a family."
"What?" The word rips out of me because what?! "You want a family with me after I—after this?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because we're having a family. It's about time and we need to work on our marriage." Just that. Like authority itself.
I cross my arms. "No. I want a divorce." Equally resolute.
The second I drop the word divorce, his eyes flare, his composure cracking.
He gets up and pivots to the sink, then leans into the counter, elbows braced.
"You think your old boyfriend's going to stay?"
I pull back, caught off guard. "My old what?"
"He makes you feel alive, I get it. You want to run off, be with him, fine... But give it a month, a year, or five years and two kids and he'll leave. And this time?" He shrugs sharply. "There won't be me waiting to pick up your pieces."
I blink hard, frowning at him. "What are you even talking about?"
He's talking about Ben as if he knows about our past, but there's no way he could know any of that. I archived our photos and wiped everything out of frustration before I went to Seattle.
Richard drops his head and looks up at me with that dark-glinted look. "Did you really think I'd marry someone without knowing every, single, thing about them?"
I recoil so hard I think I might land on the ground, and the floor would vanish too.
For a beat, I watch him not move an inch, studying me for my response.
"You read files on me?!" I fire out then.
When he sees my fuming face, he doesn't say anything, but that's an answer enough for my whole body to tense.
"Wow. So I was never a partner for you, just an acquisition from the start. You knew everything and never said a word. Didn't ask me if I wanted to share. You just took it. My childhood, my relationships, my demons, every little thing I thought was mine."
"There should be no secrets in a marriage," he says softly. "You weren't going to share any of that. Which one of us is worse?"
I spring up, arms flinging wide, and spit: "Fine, but then why? Why stay with me if you knew what a mess I am? If I don't fit into your perfect picture?"
For once, no comeback—his superior smirk flickers, then dies completely. His eyes soften from ice into something raw and he sighs, defeated.
"Because I love you. I knew it the moment I read it because none of it mattered to me."
My breath stutters.
"I love you more than you can imagine." He barely finishes the sentence before he turns on his heel and retreats into the bathroom.
I hear him turn on the water on max, trying to drown the heavy sighs and whatever he's muttering to himself.
Meanwhile, I haven't been able to move, feeling numb.
When Richard comes back, his hair is damp and his eyes are rimmed red.
He runs his hands through his hair, his breathing ragged. "I don't want to fight like this, but it's... a lot. I just found out the woman I love doesn't love me back. I hope you can understand."
He doesn't look scary anymore—he looks hurt.
And despite what he told me, that hurts me too because I care about him, so I can't help my own set of tears.
"Richard. There's nothing I can say other than sorry," I say, sniffling. "What I did is unacceptable, you're right. I should have told you. Should have come to you and explained. I'm a stupid girl who made a huge mistake."
Hope flickers across his somber face. "Was he the mistake?"
I don't answer, but the truth glints, undeniable, in my eyes—marrying him was the mistake; running from Ben was the original sin.
"I'm so sorry," I say, turning into cries until the sobs choke me. "I'm not your wife anymore. You deserve someone so, so much better."
Richard presses his eyes shut, blowing out a long breath. "I'll be the judge of that."
"I have to go to New York for Mara's wedding because I'm her bridesmaid, but in a few days—"
"We are going," he corrects me, eyes pointed.
I blink at him, caught off guard. Shake my head. "There is no way. Why would you even want to go?"
"Not everything in life is about romance," he says flatly. "I have a business meeting in New York. We planned the opera. We're meeting the governor and partners are expected there."
So it's about work again.
He notices my face go blank, and something flickers behind his eyes.
Before I know it, he crosses the space between us and pulls me into his arms. "All of that is bullshit.
You want to know the real reason? Another man is stealing my wife, who I thought would be beside me forever, that's why.
I wasn't a perfect husband, I know that, and I'm sorry, but this. .. it's breaking me."
The second I feel his wet tears on my ear, my throat locks. "I'm sorry, Richard."
"I want to see that he treats you well. I want to know he's good to you."
Stunned, I pull away and look at Richard's tear-streaked face.
My stomach drops. "But the things you said about him—"
"I am angry. You can't hold it against me."
"I'm not. I just don't understand—"
"If he really loves you, he'll be okay with it. You made your choice," he says, trying to fight his tears back. "But we'll go together. Last trip. Like I said."
My face crumples, and so does my voice. "Richard, it's a terrible idea, you know that."
He drags in a breath and steps back. "I know that, but what do you want me to do? Just disappear from your life all in one night? You want to end us like that? We still care for each other, no?"
I swallow. "Yeah. I just don't want you to think that we're going to—"
"I don't," he says, fast. "When we get back, we start planning the closure. The house. The assets. Everything. I'll prepare my lawyer. Deal?"
When I don't say anything, his gaze sharpens. "He will be there with Lisa anyway. She told me. It will be better for you to come with me."
It's insane to even consider it, but he's right that this isn't some romantic reunion. It's a family event that's not about me and Ben.
Maybe if I give Richard this, he'll let us unravel without his usual spite.
We'll end like civilized people without burning the whole book to ash.
"Okay," I say, but I hate it.
Hate how much easier surrender feels than fighting.
Hate the counterfeit relief it brings, and the regret already knotting in my throat.
And I don't even yet know how much darker it's about to get.