Five Years Guarding Me for Their Perfect Lie

The pregnancy test slipped from my hand and hit the floor.

I stared at the two names on the marriage certificate—Cameron Gray and Tessa Stone—for a long time, convinced I was seeing things.

When I looked through everything else in the drawer, I realized I had been the fool all this time.

There were prenatal checkup reports, receipts from a children's hospital, purchases of formula and diapers, and several photographs.

In one of them, Cameron held a baby girl in his arms. Tessa sat on the couch, her head bowed, smiling at them warmly.

The man I thought was my husband never died. For five whole years, I had been mourning over his photograph like a fool.

I put everything back in the drawer, one item at a time.

When I walked into the bathroom, I picked up that ridiculous pregnancy test and threw it into the trash. Just moments ago, it was meant to be a surprise. Now, it felt like nothing but a cruel irony.

The door opened from the outside. "Gigi."

At the door, Alfie Crawford was bending down to change his shoes, a paper bag dangling from one hand. Noticing my complexion seemed off, he reached out to touch my forehead.

I instinctively stepped back. His hand hovered in the air, and his eyes flickered with surprise.

"What's the matter? Are you feeling sick?"

"No."

He stared at me for two seconds, then bent down and pulled a pair of cotton slippers from the shoe cabinet. He set them by my feet. "You're not wearing socks again."

Little things like that used to melt my heart.

When I was at my lowest, Alfie was the one who stayed by my side and made sure I took my medicine. He woke me in the middle of the night when nightmares tore me from sleep.

I thought he was my salvation. Yet now, standing there, I felt nothing but disgust.

"Got you some macarons," he said, setting the paper bag on the table. "You said you were craving them the other day, so I picked some up on my way home from work."

Classic Alfie. He remembered every little thing I mentioned in passing and could tell whether I was upset just from the look in my eyes.

I used to think that meant he cared, so I became addicted to the warmth and salvation he gave me, never realizing how many cracks there were in the story.

He went into the kitchen to warm up some milk, then brought out my medicine. "Have you taken your meds today?"

"No."

He handed me the pills, his voice as gentle as ever. "Take them now, okay?"

A chill shot through me as I looked at the pills. For the past five years, Alfie knew exactly when I had an episode, when I had follow-up appointments, and when I was about to lose control of my emotions.

He remembered those things better than I did, and that was how I became so vulnerable in front of him.

I looked up and met his eyes. "Alfie."

"Yeah?"

"If, one day, I found out that Cameron was never actually dead, would you think I was pathetic?"

Alfie's hand stilled for a moment, and his voice dropped as he asked, "You went into my study?"

I was quiet.

He set down his glass and turned toward the study. A moment later, I heard a drawer being pulled open.

A few minutes passed before he came back out. His expression was calm again.

"They're just old documents. Don't go digging through them. You haven't been doing well lately, so it's easy to overthink things. I'll take you to your follow-up appointment tomorrow."

I almost laughed. Even now, he still tried to fool me.

"I'm not going."

He stared at me. "Why not?"

"There's no point. I'm never going to get better."

"Giselle!" he snapped.

"I said I'm not going."

The living room fell silent for a long while.

In the end, Alfie nodded. "Fine. I'll start dinner."

Halfway through our meal, his phone rang. He glanced at the screen, got up, and went out onto the balcony, sliding the glass door shut behind him.

I had never thought anything of it before, but after that day's revelation, it felt like a splinter lodged deep in my heart.

He came back soon enough. "I need to head out tomorrow night."

"Where to?"

"A friend's place. His kid is sick, so I'm going to check on them."

My grip tightened slowly around my fork.

He said it so casually, as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world. But who was I kidding? I knew he was going to see Cameron and Tessa's child.

I looked up at him, my voice trembling despite how softly I spoke. "Riddle me this, Alfie. What if Cameron isn't dead?"