The Abandoned Wife And Her Secret Heir

of my husband burying his face in another

a or

him playing house with a woman named Sere

or children, yet here he was, gi

at his company gala,

wedding ring off my fi

sickening crunch. Pain

ed, clutching my

e. Then he looked a

e his

gnant wife and escorted his mistress ou

me there

e was protecting was a rental-a

eft to die on the gallery floor was t

go home

n service for "Baby Boy Hayes," wit

nks he

ll alive, and I'm taki

pte

v

nd burying his face in another woman's neck when his

the email read

ct line w

each one a distinct slide in a pr

huckle he saved for dinner parties; it was a head-thrown-b

h dark, cascading hair was

h a sun-drenched park, their bodies angl

hoto that made acid bur

lding a child.

ose. He had the stubbor

gnize the features

ter. The clatter echoed like a gunshot

nd. He'd said the friend had a son named Jason, flashing a p

t a frie

simple tremor; it was a violent, bone-d

tops we had spent weekends selecting. The import

e set now. Props for a pl

ain, vibrating aga

Liv? Pizza

made me want to ret

ashed freezing water on my face,

n wide with shock. The face of a woman playing

s flooded back in

on the balcony, sliding the glass door shut. The way he flin

d me he wasn't ready. He said he wanted to focus on hi

iving his world

ed to

or old, or misunderstood. I needed the visceral, flesh-and-blood rea

s company's an

be boring, a snooze-fest of speeches. He prom

bed my

igher brain functions had shut down, leaving onl

was suffocati

clutching my purse to my chest like a shiel

d him in

is tuxedo. The stage lights caught the gold glint of

lding a m

s voice smooth as velvet. "Everything I do, I

ppled throu

y marrow that had nothing to

d off th

ar. He didn't move towar

a secluded alcove ne

om the photo

tight, it was loud, and it was an

sn't h

was palpable in the air between them. It was in the gravitati

I s

ked his

t him for our third anniversary. I had scri

e had been a distinct, jagged

d, my bre

from the hallw

atch wa

eal. It

walked past me, oblivious

said, swirling his drink. "A real family man

hoked. I wanted to scream u

d ne

to the woman. She giggled, a light, intimate

the emergency exit. She foll

s lea

ing home for

ing home

la faded into a dul

o look at me. I remembered the

ter or f

ife into the worst, and he hadn't

eel and walked o

brought my

s seat for a long ti

we had talked about painti

baby names hidden beneath

eflection in the

fool, Liv,"

ted like ash

he car

wasn't going home to wait fo

d out exactly how

my mother

id when she

lintering under the

What's

he steering wheel turning my knuckl