Our Wicked Lies by Gledé Kabongo (story read aloud TXT) 📗

a different resolution. When you’ve built a life with someone that spans decades, it’s not so easy to walk away, no matter the circumstances.”

His sad and sullied expression emphatically stated that he did not agree. Kat had broken the man.

“Well, I wish you the best of luck,” he said.

A sudden, urgent question pushed its way to the front of her brain. Two questions, actually. “Richard, did you run into an old college friend at Arnie’s party back in April, the one whose father is dying of Alzheimer’s?”

Richard frowned. “Who told you that bogus story?”

“Never mind. One more thing. Did you buy Kat a diamond-and-gold Cartier bracelet in recent months, the one she wore to the party I threw for her at the country club?”

“The one she flaunted the entire night? No. I did not buy her that bracelet. Maybe Eliot did.”

They were desperate questions, she knew. A final attempt to find one shred of redemption in her husband, one glimmer of hope that her marriage might be worth saving.

Kat had wanted everyone to see that bracelet, including Alicia. It was a power play to mess with her head, poke at her insecurities, and it worked like a charm. Knowing Kat, she had probably pressured Eliot to make the purchase, until he caved. The bracelet was part of her devious strategy.

As they made their way to the front door, Alicia asked, “Are you going to confront her about the affair? She didn’t deny it when I did. To be honest, she seemed relieved that I found out. That way she didn’t have to pretend to be the dutiful friend anymore. It was a bad scene, Richard. It turned ugly—well, as you know by Kat’s call. But just to warn you, she’s not sorry at all.”

He served up a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I know she’s not sorry. She put him first, before Maxim and me. I hinted that I had suspicions of infidelity, but she didn’t care, offered no reassurances that I was imagining things. No denials, but she never admitted anything either.”

Richard’s earlier confession that he entertained thoughts of revenge replayed in her head. Her feelings for Eliot were still complicated, but when it came to Kat, she could no longer say she didn’t share Richard’s dark outlook.

CHAPTER 38

By the time Alicia arrived at Howell House, she had exhausted her brain with excessive rumination on the strange conversation with Richard yesterday. How would Kat react to the news that Richard was leaving her and taking their son with him? Was she too selfish to care? All Kat wanted was Eliot, and she didn’t care who got in her way, including her own child. If there was a custody battle, Alicia would support Richard, but would Maxim be better off without her? Alicia only wanted what was best for the boy whom her whole family had grown fond of.

The waiting room was already overflowing with patients as she stepped through the door. The sound of the printer spitting out documents and the door constantly swinging open added to the bustle.

“How’s it going?” she asked Monica.

“Crazy. The phone has been ringing off the hook as usual.”

She smiled at Monica’s mantra. “You’re doing a superb job. What would we do without you?” Alicia said as she blew past Monica and headed down the hallway. Alicia didn’t have time for lengthy chit-chat.

She poked her head through Jack’s office door. He was looking through a patient’s file, but he gestured for her to come in. When Alicia had taken the seat across from him, he closed the file and looked up at her. “You said it was important?”

“It is.”

“What’s going on?”

“Kat told Eliot about the abortion.”

Jack pinched his nose and let out a deep, frustrated sigh. “Alicia, this is bad. You told me she’d keep the procedure confidential. She’s your best friend. Why did she do this?”

“Former best friend.”

“I don’t have time for your girlfriend politics. I don’t care whether you ended your friendship because she betrayed you to Eliot—”

“It’s more complicated than that.”

“Look, Alicia—”

She blurted it out. “Kat was having an affair with Eliot. She used an alias to communicate with me, saying some harsh, awful things. She even sent me a sonogram to make me believe that Eliot was leaving me. I don’t know whether she’s really pregnant or not.”

Jack’s already pale face turned a grayish, ashen hue that gave him a wax-like appearance.

“Jack, what is it?” she asked.

“I, I gave her the sonogram. It was either that or…” He trailed off, a faraway look taking over his features.

His words took the form of dagger-like icicles dumped into the pit of Alicia’s belly. “Why would you do that?” she whispered. She already knew the answer, but she wanted to hear it from him.

“She had me over a barrel.”

“How?”

“She said if I didn’t provide a sonogram with her name on it, she would tell your husband that I performed the abortion. I’m sorry, Alicia, if that makes me a coward. My private practice can’t afford a drawn-out legal battle. I performed the procedure as a favor to you, but I could lose everything if Eliot sues me.”

“Eliot has no legal grounds to sue you. I’m not a lawyer, but I don’t see what he could sue you for. Abortions are legal in Massachusetts.”

“He would find a way to destroy me. That’s what scares me. We told him it was a miscarriage. I produced paperwork—falsified paperwork—to back up that narrative. He’s not one of the top lawyers in the city for nothing. He would come up with a way to make it a malpractice lawsuit. If that happens, I’m finished. Oh, this is so bad…”

Jack shifted around in his seat, as if the movements allowed him to move his thoughts around to rearrange themselves into any outcome, other than losing his livelihood. The color still hadn’t returned to his face.

“Jack, please don’t worry. Eliot is not in a position to pass moral judgment on anybody.”

“What do