Chapter 2

I froze, then slowly lifted my head to look at him.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"What do you mean, I'd find out sooner or later?"

The tears came harder. I grabbed his sleeve and screamed at him.

"Emmet! Say something!"

Something reluctant flickered in his eyes and was gone, and then he spoke like a man who'd given up holding it back.

"I'm sorry, Fee. I didn't mean to keep it from you."

"The truth is, the night you got drunk at your wedding, Harrison and Edwina had already slept together."

"And the day you found out, you were so out of control, so far gone, they were both afraid you'd do something to yourself. That's why they came up with this plan."

He paused, gripped my shoulders, and looked at me.

"Fee, take my advice. Don't dig too hard into some things."

"You don't have to hide and sneak around the way Edwina does. Being the Mrs. Sullivan everyone acknowledges, that's already pretty good."

"Edwina finally has someone who loves her. You two were so close. Don't make things hard for her."

My breath locked in my chest. I let out a scoff, shook his hands off me, my voice thick with mockery.

"I'm making things hard for her?"

"Ha. You've all lost your minds!"

I turned to leave.

Emmet caught my wrist.

"Fee, calm down."

"Today's our monthly get-together, the three of us. Harrison and Edwina are already on their way over."

"Since you know now, some things are better said out in the open."

"I have nothing to say to any of you!"

I kicked him hard in the shin and yanked the door open, only to run straight into Harrison and Edwina.

My eyes dropped to their tightly clasped hands, then fixed on the slight swell of Edwina's belly. I let out a soft laugh.

"Edwina. Long time no see."

Panic flashed across Harrison's face, and then, as if he'd seen some wild animal, he shoved her behind him and watched me warily.

"Fee, what are you doing here?"

I looked at him, my throat swelling shut, my chest heaving.

"Then what are you doing here?"

"Didn't you say you were away on a business trip?"

"Why are you standing in front of me with this dead woman?"

Edwina wrenched her hand free of Harrison's, her eyes brimming.

"Fee, let me explain, I—"

"I don't want to hear it!"

I clapped my hands over my ears, cutting her off.

"Do you have any idea? All these years, I dreamed about you day and night!"

"How many times I almost jumped down there to be with you!"

Her tears fell. She stepped forward and grabbed my hands, shaking her head over and over.

"I'm sorry, Fee. It was my fault, all of it!"

"I didn't know I'd hurt you this much—"

I raised my hand and slapped her hard across the face.

"Keep your filthy hands off me!"

"If you know you wronged me, then why did you seduce my husband and get every last one of them to lie to me?"

Harrison's pupils shrank. The wine glass in his hand shattered on the floor. He rushed to pull Edwina into his arms, and when he saw the red mark on her face, his eyes filled with pain.

"Eddie!"

Then he glared at me, hard.

"Fiona, Eddie is pregnant. How could you raise a hand to her?"

My heart felt like it was being crushed to pieces, and the pain left me shaking all over.

I wiped my tears and met his eyes.

"Harrison, what right do you have to question me?"

"She's a mistress. If I beat her to death, she'd have it coming!"

"Fiona, you're the one who's actually—"

"You shut your mouth!"

Edwina cut Harrison off, crying, and dropped straight to her knees in front of me.

"Fee, stop fighting, both of you."

"This whole thing is my fault. I'm the shameless one. I threw myself at Harrison, I made Emmet keep it from you."

"I'll go get rid of the baby tomorrow. From now on, I'll never show up in front of you again."

Emmet spoke up, like he couldn't stand to watch anymore.

"Fiona, that's enough. You know better than anyone how hard the road's been for Edwina."

I clenched my fists and lowered my eyes.

The summer after our junior year, Edwina's mother was gravely ill, and her father, driving deliveries exhausted to earn the medical bills, died right there on the highway.

The medical bills and the tuition all landed on her. She had no choice but to drop out and go to work.

I was the one who started an anonymous fundraiser, and I paid her tuition with the money from my own summer job.

After that, my breakfast and my meals always came in two portions.

Every problem I'd worked through, I'd patiently walk her through, again and again.

That's how we ended up at the same college, each other's most solid backup.

I knew how hard it had been for her.

But she also knew how hard it had been for Harrison and me, from that cramped little rental of barely a hundred square feet to now.

And now she'd become the knife cutting into me where it hurt most.

I looked at Edwina, all wronged innocence with her tear-streaked face, and laughed in contempt.

"Even if you and your baby died a thousand times, ten thousand times, I would never forgive you!"

Then I shoved Harrison aside and turned and left.

In the cab, I contacted a lawyer straight away to ask about the divorce.

A few minutes later, all the lawyer sent back was a question mark.

I was still puzzling over it when his next message came through.

【Ms. Swanson, there is no marriage between you and Mr. Sullivan at all. There is nothing to divorce.】

【From what I've found, his only legal spouse is a woman named Edwina Pruitt.】

I stared at those two lines, my ears ringing.

The moment I got home, I tore the place apart like a madwoman looking for the marriage certificate, then photographed it and sent it.

【Are you sure you didn't check wrong? This is our marriage certificate, his and mine!】

The typing indicator kept flickering in the chat window.

【Ms. Swanson, the number and the embossed seal on this certificate are both fake... Have you been deceived?】

【Do you need any other legal assistance?】

My fingers trembled as I typed out a line.

【Would you mind telling me the date they got their marriage license?】

【March 23, 2019.】

The strength drained out of my fingertips, and the phone slipped and clattered to the floor.