Betrayal's Echo: A Husband's Reckoning

ing room. Miller turned to Sarah, his charming

her, his voice low, as if I were a piece of

arful wife vanished. In her place was a woman I'd ne

ed back at him. "You showing

y married couple, their long-practiced rhythm of conflict on full display.

glancing at me with contempt. "I don'

r face softening again, the mask of the caring wife sliding

sweetness. "You've had a major shock. The doctor said you need to rest. Why do

The ones that left me groggy and disconnected. How many times had she used them to k

ill down my spine. Bu

part. "Yeah, I think you're ri

over. I leaned heavily on the wall, a pe

Just go upstairs. I'll be up in a minute with your medicine and some wate

ising to con

p the stairs. Each step was a performance. I coul

oor cracked open just enough to see a sliver of the hallway. I regulated my breathing, slowing

oom, a glass of water and a small white pill in her hand. She st

she wh

ontinued my slow,

ightstand. "Sleep well," she murmured, a hint of something unreadable in her tone.

ard their voices begin to drift up from the kitchen below. They w

pt to the top of the stairs, my heart pounding. I lay flat on the landing, my ear p

Miller's vo

" Sarah replied.

se. It was still

alk. This is a mess, Sarah. Him fi

live here," Sarah's voice was bitter. "We s

The casual cruelty of her wo

egitimacy. 'The tragic hero Liam Hayes, cared for by his devoted wife and

aid. "Now what? He knows, Marcus

t the charity, not really. He doesn't know where the money i

't know. A cold knot

nto this," Sarah's voice

ery useful piece of leverage. Let's not forget, you were the one who got pregnant. You were t

r son... was not mine. He was Miller's. The child I had believed was mine, the one she to

d, her voice breaking. "You sa

my name on his birth certificate. All I asked for in return was a little

now?" she asked,

nough in the offshore accounts. We move the last of his pension funds, we dissolve th

m?" Sara

ong pause. I

ose ends need to be tied up. Permanently. He's a decorated veteran with severe PT

vibrate as he must ha

. "This is the only way. For us. For Daniel. You

I didn't need to. Her s

ind reeling. A secret child. A plot to st

beneath the pain, a cold, hard resolve was crystallizing. They weren't j

I saw the pill on the nightstand, a small white symb

o-bag. I started packing. Not clothes. I packed a burner phone, a roll of cash I kept for emergencies

had a

I made one