Chapter 3 - All the Times I Stayed Quiet
Brian wanted explanations.
I gave him memories instead.
The dinner Brianna “forgot” to make enough food for me.
The thermostat she turned down after learning cold made my arthritis worse.
The medication organizer she moved and later accused me of misplacing.
The afternoon she told two guests I had become “confused since Samuel died.”
My husband Samuel had been dead three years.
I had grieved him.
I had not lost my mind.
Brian stared at me.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
That question hurt.
“I tried.”
“When?”
“February. When you came back from Nashville.”
His face changed.
I knew he remembered.
I had told him Brianna was making me uncomfortable in the house.
He had kissed my forehead and said she was under stress.
Brianna folded her arms.
“She complains about everything.”
Megan stepped forward.
“No. You make sure she complains when Brian isn’t there.”
Brian turned toward Megan.
“And this affair you threatened her with?”
Brianna’s posture went rigid.
Megan glanced at me.
Then at Brian.
“Before your wedding, she was sleeping with Paul Renner.”
Brian said nothing.
Paul had been the Cross family CPA for almost fifteen years.
He handled Samuel’s estate.
He prepared our tax returns.
He still advised Brian’s real-estate company.
Brianna shook her head.
“That was before Brian and I were married.”
I looked at my son.
He wasn’t shocked.
That was my first surprise.
Then Brian said quietly, “I know.”
Megan blinked.
“You know?”
“I found out before the wedding.”
Brianna’s face lost some of its fear.
But not all of it.
That bothered me.
If Brian already knew about the affair, why had Megan’s threat terrified her?
I stared at Brianna.
May you like
The affair itself wasn’t what she was afraid of.
Something connected to Paul still was.
