Chapter 2

The next afternoon, Austin came home.

"Back so soon? Is your mom okay?" I asked casually, acting like absolutely nothing was wrong.

His eyes darted to the right, a classic guilty tell. "Yeah, it wasn't a big deal, so I came back. The shop just started making a profit. This is a critical time."

"Do you know a Melanie Frost?" I threw the question out raw, breaking the silence.

Austin froze for a second, then forced a laugh. "Never heard of her. Why?"

"Melanie added me on SnapChat. She says she’s your girlfriend." I toyed with my paintbrush, desperately keeping my emotions under wraps.

"Oh, her! If you hadn't mentioned it, I would’ve forgotten. Yeah, she’s my ex. But we haven't seen each other in forever. Why would she suddenly add you?"

I didn't answer. Austin started to panic and quickly scrambled to cover his tracks:

"She's a bit unstable, honestly, and a compulsive liar. I broke up with her a long time ago, but she’s been obsessed with me. You have to believe me, Chloe. You’re my wife now."

He stepped closer and wrapped his arms around my waist, his breath brushing against my neck. It made my stomach turn.

"I’ll believe you for now. But if you play games with me, you won't like what happens next," I said, turning around to stare directly into his eyes.

Maybe it was his guilty conscience, but right after agreeing, Austin rushed straight into the kitchen. He began prepping some fresh shrimp he’d brought back from upstate, promising to make me his special shrimp ceviche.

I couldn't lay all my cards on the table yet. I couldn't tell who was lying and who was telling the truth, nor did I know how many more secrets this man was keeping.

Screenshots can be faked. Photos can be photoshopped.

So, I decided to play along. I wanted to see exactly what Austin was hiding and what kind of game these two were playing.

But over the next few days, Austin was suffocatingly attentive, and it only made my skin crawl even more.