A Marriage Built on Deception

E'S

r resting on the console between us. He glanced at me, his expression carefully

landscape of our ranch blurring past

dma and I will just stop by the cemetery for a bit. You should stay home and rest,

he same tone, to leave me at home on that day. And li

d. My voice was so

nxiety. At the next red light, he turned to me, leaning

ps neared my skin

fro

k thickened, sudden

ing my nails into my palm. The sharp sting was the onl

, I walked straight into his office. It was a room I rarely entered. Not because it was forbidden, but because he'd

was a bi

r. The screen flickered to life, and a s

Caleb holding the boy, Madison leaning against him, her head on his shoulder. The sun gi

desktop b

d them to the keyboard, typing a short string of

er chimed.

ding him while my grandmother, Loretta, beamed at his side. A local father-son rodeo, Caleb patiently showing Wy

re, unconditional love on her face as she held Wyatt was an expression

t year. He'd looked straight into the camera and said with that

I was never the family

air, a hollow shell, until my

m an unkno

rything that belongs to the Blackwoods, including Caleb, will be mine. Oh, by the way, my horse farm's an

signed:

open. Caleb stood there, a glass of juice

tomorrow. Just a quick trip to check on the