Married To A Five-Year Deception

NAH

but I wasn't playing anymore. Instead, I used the money Jac

in the gleaming marble foyer of a luxurious beachfront villa an hour outside of Charleston. I'd paid the

t's house. Jacks

ortrait. It wasn't the photo from the laptop. This one included my parents. The five of them-Jackson,

woman named Doris, said proudly, follo

throat too ti

ck on the mantel," she said, gesturing to a familiar gold carriage clock

dding present. He'd refused, telling me it held too much significance to be given away

throw from the sofa, "Mrs. Beaumont knitted it herself. **She told me she put m

felt nothing. Just a vast, cold e

the years-at proms, on vacations, their lives seamlessly intertwined. My own life with him was represented b

of their laughter from the back garden. I froze, the

he stables, looking every bit the happy family.

kson," Scarlett was saying, her voice serious

e." He knelt to look the boy in the eye. "Now, are you excited for your big birthd

y plan now h

h. As I turned to slip out the service

meet Jackson's. He was looking down

cognized me in the dim light, with the mask and unifor

is fingers brushing

u covering