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

accusing him of killing Kat. The two lawyers agreed that Richard was the most likely suspect. Alicia didn’t argue.

“We need to talk,” she called out at Eliot, who was on his way out of the living room after showing Harry out the door.

He returned quietly and sat down opposite her. “What’s wrong, baby? You seem tense.”

Really? “I want a divorce.”

His hands dropped to his sides, and his fists clenched and unclenched with tension. He looked down at the floor and responded with an emphatic, “No!”

She leaned forward. “Listen to me. I don’t want to fight about this. Our marriage is over.”

“Over? Every marriage goes through rough times. We can’t give up because it’s hard.”

“Hard? There’s hard, and then there’s impossible. I was willing to work things out, but you didn’t take me up on my offer. For two years you lied. To my face. To our children! Too much has happened. We can’t fix this, Eliot.”

“What I did was beyond reprehensible. I let you down, and our girls. I let myself down. I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you, but I can’t lose my family, Alicia.” His shoulders slouched. “Everyone makes mistakes. I didn’t ask you for a divorce when you admitted to aborting our son, a son you knew I desperately wanted. A son we mourned together. All the while, you knew what you had done, and lied about it for three years.”

Despite the fact that she knew he would have drawn this card, his words still packed a powerful punch, reminding her that she wasn’t so perfect. She, too, had messed up badly. He was calling her a hypocrite.

He continued, “I cheated on you. You killed our son. There’s no escaping those facts. We’re both flawed people. My world makes little sense without you in it. I love you and always will. So, no divorce.”

She drew in a long breath. Why does he want to hold on to a dead marriage? Is he in denial? She smoothed down the hem of her dress. Despair gnawed at her, stinging, painful bites. Yet, she was determined to have her way. She chose her words carefully.

“What I did was horrific. But it doesn’t change the fact that we’re broken beyond repair. You would have kept the affair going had I not found out. You claim to love me, but I wonder if that was ever true. So, why did you marry me, Eliot?”

He frowned. “What kind of question is that, Alicia?”

“A simple one. Maybe Kat wasn’t the only woman you cheated with. Were there others? Perhaps plain, dull Alicia wasn’t exciting enough to hold your interest.”

He stood up and began pacing back and forth. “You’re talking nonsense.”

“Did you think you could mold me into the perfect housewife while you had your fun with other women who excited you? It was easy enough. When we met, I was alone in the world, no family, no friends, no financial security, low self-esteem, no hope.”

“Alicia, because I messed up, you’re suddenly acting as though the past twenty-two years meant nothing? Questioning my motive at every turn? I married you because I couldn’t imagine my life without you in it. You and our daughters are the only thing that makes my world okay.”

“Yet, you put it all on the line. You were willing to betray us, me and our daughters, for her. We weren’t enough to keep you content. And we won’t ever be enough. If you and I stay married, we’ll destroy each other because Kat will always be the ghost between us. I won’t live like that.”

He placed his head in his hands. His shoulders heaved. Sniffling sounds emanated from him.

“Where do you expect me to go? What do you expect me to do? You and our daughters are my entire life; it’s how I exist in the world. It’s what gives my life meaning. You’re asking me to give up my existence. I won’t do it. We’re a family. Families hold on to each other, no matter what.”

“You forfeited that support the day you betrayed our family.”

He stood, dried his tears with a determined swipe of his hand, and walked over to her. His expression hard and cold, he said, “If you keep pushing for a divorce, I will make damn sure you leave this marriage the same way you came in. With nothing.”

CHAPTER 54

KATALINA TORRES

May 16, 2019

DIARY ENTRY

Enough already. It’s exhausting, and I’ve been more than patient. The excuses made sense in the early years of our relationship. But not anymore. His daughters are grown now. Yet he still won’t budge. It’s time to take matters into my own hands. When we were together yesterday afternoon, I told him what I expected from him.

“You need to tell Alicia about us,” I told him.

His answer was the same. He wouldn’t leave her.

In that instant, I made the decision to lay all my cards on the table, especially my ace, but never got the chance to do so. Something took over the man I love, something evil. In the fifteen years we’ve been together, I had never seen him so angry. He grabbed me and dug his fingers into my face. The move knocked the breath out of me. My legs could barely support me, they trembled so badly.

He said if I told Alicia about us, he would kill me. Eliot Gray threatened to kill me. I know when people are angry, they say that they want to kill someone, but they don’t really mean it. But I believed him. I believed he would kill me if his wife found out about us. I’ve never been afraid of him until now.

CHAPTER 55

Unknown: Have you told Alicia the truth yet?

Eliot was in no mood for this stalker nonsense. He let the phone drop from his hands, disgusted and furious. With himself, mostly. After he’d threatened to leave Alicia destitute if