My Husband's Perfect Deception

im, the burner phone clutched in my hand. Every musc

w and dangerous. He was only a few feet a

ab my shoulder, Isabelle's v

ng so long? Leo wants y

His hand sto

ck, his eyes still fixed on m

gloom. I kept my head down, my face angled away. Th

His tone was dismissive, arrogant. He didn't

here. Now,"

cked away, never turning to face him, and s

, slid the dummy phone into his pocket without a second glance, and went back i

ing room, kissed Leo on the head, and settled into an a

night in our bed. "I can't wait to have a family with

d one. He had

by something hard and cold. It was the clarity of absolute loss. I

in my pocket wa

at in a dark corner and called the one person I could trust. The one pe

answered, his voi

or the first time. "I need you. Not as a frie

I laid out the whole sordid story. I placed the encrypted flash drive an

e," he said, his voice filled with a quiet rage I

. "That's their game. But

rewall. A new identity. Power of attorney. I was systematically

He rushed to me, his face a caricature of co

, playing the part of the overwrought

elt nothing but the cold weigh

ner at my father's penthouse. A "small family gather

ve the final piece, Elara. I decrypted the burner. T

willing to testify about my "genetic predisposition to emotional breakdowns." They were planning to use the dinner toni

ce. He had the last document

bout this?" he

on the paper. Elara Vance. It looked like

I said, and

was firm. Al

draiser. I chose a simple, elegant

th pride. Gwyn, a gracious hostess. And Ch

en tension. They were watchin

tail in her hand. It was a bea

le not reaching her cold eyes. "I had the bartender m

t was drugged. This was it. The

d in my clutch.

omplete. You are legally and fi

n's hand. I looked from her to my father, and then to Christi

s to my lips and drank

game w

just be