Chapter 2

The day Annie was buried was bright and sunny.

Cemetery plots in my hometown were cheaper, so I chose one with a view of the sunset. More than anything, she'd wanted to go to the beach and watch the sun set.

I always told her, "Next time. We'll go next time, once Daddy's earned enough to cover your tuition."

Now I'd finally fulfilled her wish, but she would never get to see it.

The five years Audrey and I had been married hadn't been easy, but we'd supported each other, so life had never felt particularly hard. She knew how exhausting it was for me to work three jobs a day, so every night, she'd have dinner ready when I got home.

Once, I was injured at a construction site when a steel bar fell on me.

Audrey had always been proud, yet the night I nearly died, she'd dropped to her knees before the doctor and begged him to save me.

That was why I couldn't understand what reason she could possibly have had to lie to me.

I had nothing. What was there for her to deceive me for?

After cleaning up the old house back home, I bought a ticket back to Derry. Some of my things were still at the apartment, and I needed to bring them back. Otherwise, the old house would be too empty to feel comfortable.

The moment I opened the apartment door, an unfamiliar rush of cool air washed over me, driving away the heat clinging to my body.

Hearing the door, Audrey poked her head out of the kitchen. Her eyes lit up when she saw me.

"Come in! I bought a new air conditioner. Hurry up and sit down for a while!"

To save money, we had only ever bought a secondhand unit. It used a lot of electricity and was incredibly noisy, so whenever I was home alone, I could never bring myself to turn it on.

Audrey had scolded me about it more than once. "We can always make more money! Sam, you're always scrimping and saving so you can buy nice clothes for Annie and me, but you never think about buying anything for yourself. You're so good to me. I can't neglect you either.

"Just wait. I'll get you a good one someday. I can't have you suffering in the heat."

I stared at her blankly. I hadn't expected her to remember.

The custom evening gown she'd worn a few days ago had been replaced by a faded T-shirt washed so many times it had nearly lost its color. After spending so long in the kitchen, much of the back was soaked with sweat.

There was no trace of the poised elegance she'd carried onto the stage that night.

"What? Haven't seen your wife in a few days, and now you're speechless?" Audrey gave my waist a playful pinch and pulled me over to the dining table. The table was covered with all my favorite dishes.

Seeing the sweat on her face, I couldn't help pulling out a tissue and wiping it away. She smiled smugly and caught my hand, refusing to let go.

"You're still so good to me, Sam. Don't be mad anymore, okay? I promise I won't take another job that keeps me away this long. Otherwise, the next time I come home, my husband and daughter might not even recognize me."

That night, Audrey massaged my shoulders for a while before going to take a shower.

Years of physical labor had left me with frequent shoulder pain. To make things a little easier for me, she'd been massaging them for years.

I looked at the phone on the coffee table.

In the end, I picked it up.

Three wrong passwords. I tried my birthday, our daughter's birthday, and even Audrey's own birthday.

Finally, I took out my phone and looked up August's birthday.

The moment her phone unlocked, my breath caught.

In five years of marriage, she'd never stopped me from looking at her phone. But I'd never liked invading her privacy, so I'd never actually done it.

Maybe that was exactly why she'd always been so confident about offering to let me look. She knew I never would.

[Audrey, are you really planning to keep lying to Samuel and Annie forever? You married that poor guy just to get back at August for leaving without a word. Now August is back. How much longer are you planning to keep up this act?]

[You haven't... actually fallen for him, have you?]

I stared at the conversation she'd just finished, my fingertips trembling as I scrolled down to her reply.

[You're overthinking it. We do have a child together. She's a McMillan. There's no way I'd ever let my own blood be left out there. As for him, once I've had my fun, I'll find a way to cut him loose.]