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

in the house on the Vineyard into the mix. You can all head out after prom and spend the rest of the weekend with your friends. I’ll drive down to chaperone. And don’t worry, you won’t even know I’m there.”

“You would do that for us, Dad?” Marston asked, her eyes wide.

“Yes. You and Lily should enjoy yourselves with friends. Anything for my beautiful girls.” Eliot turned to his wife and gave her a knowing smile.

Alicia pursed her lips and smoothed her clothes to keep her hands busy. Her chest ached. Her daughters were so happy. She resented Eliot for putting her in this position. She lived in a constant state of indecision, which could only go on for so long. Eventually, she would have to confront him, decide if her marriage was worth saving. His mistress knew Alicia by name, knew they had taken off for Paris. For goodness sake, the woman had had the itinerary. That said a lot. As much as it pained her to admit it, Eliot cared for this woman. Alicia retched at the thought.

“You okay, Mom?” Lily asked, with a worried expression.

“I’m fine, honey. Eat your eggs.”

“Okay. You looked like you were about to barf just now.”

Yes. I want to vomit all over your father’s lying, deceitful face.

“My stomach is a little unsettled, that’s all. Nothing to be concerned about.”

Eliot focused on her intently. “Have you been feeling that way lately or did this just happen this morning?”

“This morning. As I said, I’m fine.”

Alicia was sure that after their conversation last night he wouldn’t be convinced, but he dropped the matter.

“So, prom’s a go, then?” she asked Marston. Anything to take the spotlight off her and keep Eliot from asking questions.

Marston relented. “All right. I guess I’m going to prom.”

After the girls left for school and Eliot for the office, Alicia took a cup of coffee and her phone to the patio. She wanted to feel the sun on her face, absorb the serenity of the morning, admire the beauty of the blooming flowers. A half hour where everything was right with the world was all she needed to calm her nerves.

She sipped the coffee, placed the mug on the table and punched up her email. The message at the top of her inbox stopped her cold. It was from Faith.

The serene half hour Alicia had planned was in danger of dissolving. Did she really need to read a message from a hateful woman of questionable morals, who took every opportunity to insult her? Faith called Alicia an “ugly cow” in the last email exchange. From Faith’s messages, Alicia imagined that Eliot had landed himself an immature, entitled twenty-something. A classy, mature woman would not respond with such a superficial sentiment. Not that Alicia was generalizing.

But she needed facts and information to strengthen her case for or against divorce, help her make a final decision. Faith’s acidic tongue was just the ticket. One last email. Alicia would read one last email and rid herself of the whole side-chick-tormenting-the-wife mess.

From: Empress Faith

To: Alicia Gray

Subject: He’s serious as a heart attack

Alicia,

You claim Eliot isn’t serious about me. See the attached photos. What more proof do you need?

Empress Faith

The last time she opened an attachment from Faith, it was a sonogram. Alicia’s fingers tingled. She tapped the first photo. A real estate listing appeared on the screen. A beautiful colonial with a lush green lawn, a winding driveway, surrounded by tall, leafy trees. The house was listed in Brookline, a suburb twenty minutes away.

Was she supposed to infer that Eliot and Faith were moving into this house? Did the girl really think a photo of some random listing was going to convince Alicia it was over? She almost laughed until she tapped the second attachment to launch the document.

A purchase and sales agreement for 32 Hyde Park Avenue in Brookline opened up.

Her stomach dropped when she came to the signature line and saw the scrawl she would recognize in her sleep: Eliot Gray.

CHAPTER 29

Alicia gave the heavy door knocker a workout, banging so loudly that the sound ricocheted up and down the street.

Rina answered the door, her eyes flaring with annoyance. “My goodness, Alicia, what’s going on? You scared me half to death—I thought it was a home invasion or something. You could have just texted.”

“She thinks she can swoop in and steal my life,” Alicia said, not waiting to be invited in and hurrying past Rina into the spacious hallway. “Who told her she could have him? Who? Who told her she could rip my children’s father from them? What kind of hateful, mentally deranged woman thinks this is okay?” Alicia’s breaths were wheezing, with each inhale, her whole body shuddered with agony and fury.

Rina’s eyes bulged out of their sockets, completely lost apparently. She remained silent and gestured toward the sunroom as Alicia’s tirade continued.

“It is not okay. I need to know who she is, Rina. Today. Right now. Then I’m going to make him wish he had picked a different restaurant that summer evening, twenty-two years ago.”

A sobbing Alicia collapsed onto the sofa in Rina’s gorgeous sunroom, the May sun slicing through large bay windows, its lemon glow mocking Alicia’s misery.

“Alicia, what’s happened?” Rina spoke for the first time.

“You said you were a friend, Rina. That you could be discreet when it mattered. Did you mean it?”

Rina peered over at Alicia. “You already know the answer to that question. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here.”

“You have an advanced degree in computer science, right? Programming, coding, stuff like that?”

Rina nodded.

“So, you can hack an email account and find an IP address?”

“Yes.”

“I need your help.”

“I guessed as much.”

“Eliot’s been cheating on me, and his mistress has been sending me these awful emails. She says he’s leaving me. Sent me a sonogram and a purchase and sales agreement for a home in Brookline, with Eliot’s signature on it.”

Rina sat still, her face impassive, as if nothing Alicia said was shocking.

“Why are