My Husband's Secret Journal

s. Ethan's name was carved deep int

fault. A

gh the fog of my grief. The charity gala

s forehead. He'd been drugged. So

n't h

oice dripping with the contempt I felt for ou

ocked himself in a cold, unused bathroom in our Hamptons place, fighting off whatever poison w

ow then. I

ter he was gone. Aft

reds of them. Photos of me I didn't e

Taken the blame for my social blunders. Nursed me through that awful flu. Bought that

m for Liam. He wrote about letting

my father, while his own health crumble

ay, crushed me. I got in my car, tears blind

e frozen tears. Music swelled, a familiar classical

s place. T

against my ribs. N

one I wore to the annual Miller Industries

to my mouth

me. Ethan. He was here. He was

this

llroom, a sea of tuxedos and g

ughing socialites, my apologies

r. Henderson, one of my father's smarmy bus

as holding two

ice was too lo

kering in his eyes. Hend

" I almost shouted

y fingers digging into his slee

n at my face, his expression u

? What'

him away from a startled Henderson. I

a side door, into a quiet corrid

is?" he started, his voice low and

eling it? Had Henderson a

trembling. I reached out, touche

me, widened slightly. He stared at

well," he mumbled

spered. "I'll t

ime, I

a lavishly decorated room. He sank onto t

ning," he said,

taking his hands.

re dilated. Fear, raw and new, mi

y voice softer than I

se the past, to show him, somehow, that this t

st, then deeper. A sil

I felt the shock

ia he knew, the one who flinched from his touc

ugh him. A small sound, a sig

en limp in mine, tighte

hungry, as if he'd been starving for

was something else too. A raw need that mirrored my own sudden, ov

g around my waist, and I went will

rifying. And yet,

g time, lost in a haze of sen

s hands explored my back, my hair, wit

yes, really looked,

I sa

n his journal. The love he'd hidden so we

depths of his gaze, v

ave been so b

t life, our first life

me scandal I'd been too reckless to avoid, or perhaps it was j

disdain, a convenient t

sy escape I'd craved. I'd demanded a divorce from Ethan and left with

ries faced disaster. A hostile

m that night at the gala, poured everythi

d then he collap

me after the funeral, along with a notice of a subs

lders.

s, shielding me from my own impulsiveness. How he'd taken the fall f

, staying by my side for days, even

e I'd drunkenly confessed to dreaming abo

is sacrifices, his unwavering love, even knowing I planned to

elfless devotion of the man I'

armth of his body, the reality

't fail you. I'll cheri

wea