The Wife He Never Saw

ssession. Not because he loved me, but because I

ghost walked through our f

usband her "death" was a

at my chest. "Oh, darling. That's not my heart.

, the entire reason for m

pte

ke. The crystal glasses on the long dining table re

on was cold and expensiv

yes fixed on my chest. Not o

It was the same question he asked eve

ine, C

sel for his dead first love's heart. My life was a prison built of check-ups, organic meals, and

od there, bathed in the light from the hall. She was bea

woman who was su

s hand and shattered on the marble floor. He

, her voice a soft

ining. She didn't even glance at me

table and looked at me for the

her eyes on my chest. "But I'm back now.

in or jealousy. Instead, I felt

id. My voice was

xpected tears, a fight, a pathetic scene. But the woman who loved Cedric Burke had

ering quickly. "Cedric

too

you bo

ng back. The cold night air hit my face as I

nk about its health or its history. I just felt it beating. And I knew, with a sudden, sh

a self-made billionaire whose quiet intensity commanded the room. I fell for him instantly, a foolish, girlish crush on a m

told me I was dying without a transplant. Lying in a hospital bed, I heard the news that Fallon's yacht had

t in time. I survived the surgery, only to be told by a pitying

he entered my life, gentle and attentive. He talked about Fallon, and I listened, thinking he found comfort in the piece of her I carried. I knew he was lookin

nists. "We need to protect the heart," Cedric would say, his voice soft but firm, as he banned anything that might elevate my heart r

e me withered, starved of affection. I was not a person t

. And she told me the

as a test," Fallon said. "I had to know if you would truly love me

ic, like he couldn't breathe. Then Fall

t's not my heart. I'm perfectly healthy. It

undation of our entire marriage was a lie. A

as

was gone. All that was lef

the divorce papers drawn up. I would n

e was dark. I walked into my studio, m

re, in the middle of th

?" he demanded,

I said, avoid

e out so late. It's bad for your h

t my health. Alway

this time it wasn't my

ine, C

was accepted," I said, my voice s

m is to stay here and be my wife.

urce of secret pain,

y sketches for my Parsons applicatio

ked th

d. He started tearing them, one by one. The sound

rn to shreds

inside m

raw and torn from my throat. "I am not a doll

I have a life! T

n's heart, Keena. And you are

streaming down my face. "What if I want to b

st. My breath caught. I stumbled

tly, replaced by that fam

his hands hovering over me. "

ttle he always kept nearby. The emergen

ice a low, gentle murmur. It was the

ay with me, and I'll giv

tongue. I felt nothing for his gentle touch now.

t subsided, a cold res

t him, my

s from my bag. The

on 57th Street," I s

annoyance, not suspicion. He thought I was having

e was signing. He just scrawled his name on the line. "The

e added, "and you c

on paper was the soun

c Burke. The name that had d

r. I had m