The Buried Truth
hands resting loosely in her lap. Her stomach churned, not with nausea, but with the heavy weight of uncertainty and fear that had settled into her life like an unwelcome guest. She had returned to
followed by the familiar, but increasingly te
stepped inside, "he's had another episode overni
the heart attack that nearly claimed him yesterday left a lingering dread. Sh
tly ajar door, she saw Mark slumped over the edge of the bed, pale, his hand pressed to his chest, and a sheen of sweat glistening across his furrowed
membered the nights of coldness, the accusations, the suffocati
e rasped, his voice wea
loser but keeping her distance, unsure w
simmering resentment. Mark, once the rock of authority in her life, now seemed fragile, like a broken reflection in a cr
th a new friend online, the stranger her mother had warned her about, yet something about him drew her
confident way he smiled, the subtle charm in his words, the way he seemed to see past her defe
Kayla's words from earlier echoed in her mind: "Be careful wh
xury she felt she
d to confide, to seek solace, but the fear of exposure, of destroying her reputation, kept her lips sealed. Every time her thoughts wa
f. Her mind wandered to Lissa, wondering how much her daughter understood of the world
nce was both a comfort and a provocation. He didn't knock; he simply let himself i
he asked casually, but there
around her coffee cup.
stepping closer. "You wanted to fo
uch, every stolen glance, was heavy with unspoken emotion. Her lips trembled, her heart
vant, had noticed her from the corner of the living room during his visit. He hadn't intende
Lissa froze, her phone
d, unsure why her
ding yet strangely gentle. "You sho
distracted by her own entanglement with Ben, didn't notice the subtle shif
encounter upstairs had ignited sparks that neither could ignore, yet the shadows of guilt and betrayal loome
in the house-a man unaware that the world he con
e city lights, her mind spinning. The cracks were everywhere-her marriage, her loyalty, her family, ev
heart, she knew the st