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

her an honorary aunt. All the while, she was scheming to take their father from them, destroy their family. Marston already doesn’t trust men because of how Brandon treated her.”

She stopped to catch her breath, to stop the tears from falling. “Now, the man she loves most in the world betrayed her, too. Our daughters, no matter how much they claim to be okay, are not. They will carry this pain with them for the rest of their lives.”

Eliot leaned on the mantle. After a long, calming breath, he said, “I spoke to an attorney today. I will grant you the divorce. I won’t contest it.”

“Thank you. You know it’s for the best.”

“You don’t have to worry. I will take care of our daughters. And you get the house, as you requested.”

“Good.”

She turned to leave the room but didn’t get far.

Eliot said, “Are you sure you won’t change your mind, give me a shot at redemption? We don’t have to stay in this town, in this state. I can be a lawyer anywhere, maybe open my own practice. Please, Alicia, won’t you reconsider?”

She turned around. “You know I can’t.” It was time to confess that she now fully understood the gravity of his betrayal. “Fifteen years, that’s how long you were with her—almost the entire length of our marriage. I never expected to spend most of my married life sharing my husband with another woman. That’s not what I signed up for. That’s not what you promised.”

Her body shook with the grief of it. She stared blindly at the fireplace and the burning diary, wiping away errant tears. He took a seat on the sofa and stared into space.

“I think it’s best if you move out as soon as possible,” she said.

He nodded. His voice cracked when he said, “This is not the ending I envisioned for us.”

“Think of it as a new beginning, a new chapter for us both.”

“How did you find out the truth...” His voice trailed off.

“It’s a moot point. She mattered to you more than our family. That much I know.”

“That’s not true.”

“Remember what you said to me when you proposed? That you couldn’t let me go?”

“Yeah.”

“That was the first time you ever lied to me. It was she you couldn’t let go of. From the moment you met her, she became your obsession.”

Her heart stuttered, and there was a feeling of free-falling with nowhere to land.

“I didn’t have much to offer you when we got married. But I loved you fiercely, without condition. You had my loyalty, and it still wasn’t enough. I hope you find what you’re searching for, Eliot. I’m sorry that I denied you the son you always wanted but thank you for our beautiful daughters. Goodnight, Eliot.”

With that, she exited the room without looking back.

CHAPTER 60

Lily – How it Really Happened

Everybody got it wrong. The police, my parents, the media. The only thing they were right about was the cause: it was a tragic accident.

How do I know? I was there.

It ate away at me, hiding the truth. All I wanted was to talk to her, beg her not to take Dad from us, not to break up our family. It didn’t work. She destroyed it. And she got away with it. Dying didn’t count.

We said our goodbyes to our father last night. His bags were packed, waiting by the door like the ending from some sappy family drama. Marston and I cried all night, and so did Mom, even though she was pretending to be strong. I heard her in the guest bathroom, just wailing, like some wounded animal on its last breath.

But I couldn’t let it end like this. I had to confess before Dad walked out of our lives. This was all his fault. He didn’t get to walk away without having to deal with the final blow. Face the consequences of his actions. Finally, my parents and my sister would learn the truth of how it really happened, every last detail. Because I will never forget as long as I live.

We all gathered in the family room, Dad, who would be leaving in a few short minutes, had been sobbing again, his eyes red and puffy. He wouldn’t look at us.

I gathered everyone’s attention. They were going to need to be sitting down for this. “Since this is the last time we’ll be together under the same roof as a family, I have something important to say.”

“What’s going on, Lily?” Mom asked. She looked unnerved. She’d gone through so much already. I wish I could spare her what came next.

I wasn’t sure where to begin, so I started with the most obvious thing. “It’s about the day Kat died.”

Everyone looked at each other, confused. I had practiced in front of my bedroom mirror exactly what I was going to say, but now, it felt like I was about to wreck our family all over again.

“What about the day Kat died?” Mom asked.

“I was there.”

They were silent for a moment before Dad whispered, “What?”

I was sandwiched between our parents on the sofa. Marston stood. She does that when she is afraid of bad news. It helps her keep it together. I took a deep, long, I’m-not-scared breath and just told it like it was.

“It all started when Colby told me that Dad was cheating on Mom. I thought she was just being mean to say something like that. I cursed her out. But then she showed me the pictures.”

“What pictures?” Marston asked.

I took another deep breath and delved in. “Colby and her family were attending her cousin’s wedding at the Chanler Cliff Walk Hotel in Newport, Rhode Island, back in April. Colby spotted Kat in the lobby. A hotel employee passed by and called her Mrs. Gray, like she was a regular guest and that was her name.”

“I need to sit down.” Marston took a seat across from us.

Mom and Dad sat stone-faced. I wasn’t sure they wanted me to continue. Then