Our Wicked Lies by Gledé Kabongo (books for new readers TXT) 📕

He’d known it was his mistress.

CHAPTER 18

Alicia awoke early the next morning before Eliot did and left the bed.

She’d hardly slept all night, only crawling into bed after he was asleep. She couldn’t stand the thought of him spooning her the way he usually did, not after what she had discovered. She had wept into her pillow—silent, gut-wrenching, body-wracking, going-to-kill-him sobs.

What about the sweet things he’d said to her only a week ago? Were they all lies? She’d been married to the man for twenty years. He hadn’t been pretending in Paris. Alicia was sure of that. Or at least she thought she was. Every word seemed genuine, every touch, every kiss.

Then how do you explain his betrayal?

With each question, fresh waves of misery had assailed her last night. Sometimes it hurt so badly, she thought her heart would explode onto the bedsheets.

After showering away some of the night’s pain and squeezing a few drips of eye drops into her eyeballs, she looked and felt better. She had to act as though everything was normal. No hint of trouble in paradise. She couldn’t reveal what she had discovered. Not yet.

“You were up early. I reached for you, and you weren’t there,” Eliot said, as he walked into the kitchen an hour or so later.

“I wanted to get an early start. Your coffee is here,” she said, pointing to the mug on the kitchen table.

“Thank you, baby.” He pulled out the chair across from her and sat. “I’m working from home this morning, so I can hang out with you for a while before I head into the office later.”

“That’s great. The girls will be happy to see you at the breakfast table before they leave for school.”

She took a sip of her coffee, then decided she would keep herself busy. She would get a big hearty breakfast going. They would have breakfast as a family, like normal. Everything was normal.

Except it wasn’t.

Breakfast didn’t go as planned. She’d prepared a western omelet, French toast and a fresh fruit platter. The girls woke up late, scurried into the kitchen, barely said hello before announcing they would grab something to eat at the school cafeteria.

“I guess it’s just us,” Eliot said. “I’m digging in.”

Her stomach churned at the idea of food. She imagined herself puking all over his lying, lowdown, dirty-rat of a face.

“I’m not hungry,” she said. “I have to get going soon. Need to check out a new computer. You said no excuses, right?”

She meant it as a joke, but her heart wasn’t in it and her delivery came out weak and unenthusiastic.

A concerned frown framed his inquiring eyes. “Is everything okay, baby?”

Don’t you “baby” me, you lying snake!

“Why wouldn’t it be?” She laughed. “Is everything okay with you?”

“Everything is fine.”

“Are you sure?” she pressed. She was giving him a chance to come clean.

“Yes. What’s going on, Alicia?”

“Be honest, Eliot. Are you happy? If you’re not, tell me. We can fix it.”

She didn’t mean to come off as pathetic, but the pain was eating away at her like some corrosive acid that destroyed everything in its path. She didn’t know how long she could keep up this ruse of normality. Discovering the affair had blindsided her. So had the earring purchase, which he’d clearly bought for Faith. The matching earrings to her anniversary bracelet. The total rat!

There had been no signs that anything was wrong in their marriage. Didn’t it usually start with the couple fighting over the silliest things, drifting apart, and barely communicating except about the kids? Then the cheating spouse would withdraw affection. There had been none of that. They were still as crazy about each other as they had been since day one of their relationship. Or so she thought.

“Where is this coming from? Are you feeling all right?” Eliot’s brow furrowed. He reached out his hand to hers, but she pulled away.

“Please, Eliot,” she pleaded. “Don’t lie to me. If you’re seeing someone else, it will take me a long time to get over the betrayal, but people make mistakes. You’re human. I promise you I won’t give up on us. Whatever has caused you to stray, we can work it out.”

He looked her dead in the face. “Alicia, I would never cheat on you. I love our family. I love you with every fiber of my being. There is no one else. You’re it, my heart, my forever. You know my father and I have our issues, but the one piece of advice he gave me that was worth anything was ‘don’t mess with the home base’. You and the girls are my anchor in this crazy world. I can’t, wouldn’t, mess with that.”

She hadn’t known it, but there was something even more painful than discovering your husband’s infidelity: his denial of cheating. She wanted to scream at him, tell him she knew he was lying and that she had proof. Her voice, however, had deserted her.

She didn’t expect an outright confession. Dodging the issue, sure. Playing dumb or trying to make her look like she was nuts, fine. But to lie with such confidence, sincerity, and poise… Well, she’d never expected that from Eliot.

“Okay,” she said, defeat clouding her voice.

This was neither the time nor place to fight this battle. She would regroup. Give him one more chance to tell the truth. Right now, she needed a strategy. This was unfamiliar territory for her, and she had to learn how to navigate the terrain. Now, she understood how her mother must have felt when she’d found out Alicia’s father had been unfaithful. The discovery had changed her mom. She had never been the same after that. Alicia believed her mother mourned her father’s leaving up to the day she died.

Eliot stood up and came around to her side of the table. He sidled up next to her. “Baby, what’s this really about? Where did you get the idea that I’m cheating on you?”

She forced a