Chapter 3

The bedroom felt like a cage as I paced around, my bare feet creaking against the hardwood floors. 

Questions circled in my mind, and my fingers trembled. 

Sara was a baby when Laura suddenly disappeared, too young to remember the woman who'd given birth to her. 

But Micheal had been old enough to form memories, when he kept meeting 'Aunt Laura', had he truly not recognized his own mother?

Or had Jaime coached him, taught him to play along with some elaborate charade? 

My chest tightened with each breath I took. The dinner tray Alba had brought up hours ago sat untouched on the nightstand, I couldn't stand the thought of food in this state. 

I wasn't even able to tuck the children to bed, Alba had given me a quizzical look when I asked her to do it, she knew something was wrong but she couldn't ask. 

The bedroom door opened with a soft click, and the warm smell of Jaime's cologne wafted into my nostrils. 

"There's my mysterious wife. I was expecting to find you downstairs." His tie loosened around his neck as he moved toward the closet. "Everything alright? Alba said you weren't feeling well at dinner."

I watched him in the mirror as he shrugged out of his jacket.

"The Henderson merger finally went through! Can you believe it took six months to negotiate something that should have been settled in days? And don't get me started on the Peterson account..."

His voice continued rambling as he took off his clothes, but I could barely hear him. 

My eyes remained fixed on the marble floors, the question sitting heavy on my tongue but I didn't have the courage to voice them. 

How do you ask your husband if he's been lying to you? 

Sara's innocent voice echoed in my memor. 'Aunt Laura knew exactly what flavors we liked.' How had this happened under this roof and I was somehow oblivious about it. 

"...and then Martinez has the audacity to suggest we reconsider the timeline. Can you imagine? After everything we-" Jaime's voice cut through my internal chaos as his shirt hit the floor. "Alessa? You're awfully quiet tonight."

I looked up at him, his chest was bare now and the dim lamplight cast a shadow across muscles I'd traced with my fingertips countless times. 

But tonight, he felt like a stranger. 

"The kids mentioned something interesting today," I spoke before I could stop it, the words scraping against my throat like sandpaper. 

Jaime paused, his hands stilling on my belt buckle. "Oh? What's that?" 

The causal tone felt like a slap. I swallowed hard, and I rose to my feet on unsteady legs. 

"Is there anything you want to tell me?" I turned to face him, my fingers curling into a fist. 

His laugh filled the space between us, his eyes crinkling with mirth. "Did you figure out about the dinner reservation I made for Friday? I thought I was so careful about hiding it."

 He moved toward me with that devastating smile, the same one that had convinced me to abandon everything I'd ever known. "You're too observant for your own good, my jewel."

For the first time, the endearment hit like acid on an open wound. The realization that he could lie so smoothly to my face made my stomach lurch. 

"I was talking to Sara and Micheal this morning about their day at school." 

"Ah." Jaime's expression softened with softeness as he reached for his pajama pants. "Let me guess, Sara's been gossiping about Micheal's little crush again?" 

I cocked a brow, my nails digging into the inside of my palms. "she mentioned that Micheal's been talking to Rebecca by the swings. And that someone saw them together." 

"Kids will be kids," Jaime's chuckle held such easy affection it made me want to scream. "You were like that at that age too-"

"Sara said Aunt Laura saw them." 

The room went silent except for the ticking of the antique clock on the mantle. Jaime froze, pajama pants halfway up to his legs, his face ashen. 

I stepped closer, my bare feet silent on the cold hardwood. I was close enough to see the pulse jumping in his throat. 

"Have you been letting the children see Laura without telling me?"

His eyes went wide, not with confusion or surprise, but with the stark terror of someone who'd been caught in a lie. 

I should be satisfied by having caught, especially because he didn't look like he anticipated it. 

But as I watched the truth stretch on his features, it felt like a chasm had been created between us, breaking five years of trust. 

The pain was so sharp, it stole my breath and left me hollow. 

"Alessa, I can explain-"

"Why?" My voice cracked, and my entire body quaked. "Why would you do this to me? When did she even come back? How long-"

My voice cracked, dancing between rage and heartbreak. "How long have you been seeing each other?" 

He shook his head, his pupils dilating with shock, but I couldn't stop the words. 

"How could you let me sit there like an idiot while my own children talked about ice cream dates with their mother? Their real mother who knows exactly what flavors they like because she-" The sob caught in my chest, threatening to split me apart. 

"No, no, Alessa, please-" He moved toward me, his arms circling my trembling frame before I could pull away. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I never meant to hide this from you."

I fought against his embrace, my fists pushing weakly at his chest. "Don't... don't you dare-"

"I was waiting for the right time-"

"The right time?" I pulled back to stare at him through tears that blurred his face. "There's no right time to lie to your wife!"

"You're right. You're absolutely right," his hands cupped my face with trembling fingers, his thumbs brushing away the tears on my cheeks. "But Lexi, listen to me. I have no feelings for her. None."

I looked at him and he nodded slowly, reassuringly. "She's nothing more than their biological mother, and that's all she'll ever be." 

I opened my mouth to argue, to tell him that biology was everything I could never give them, but his palms pressed gently against my cheeks. 

"If you want me to cut all contact, if you never want her near our family again, I'll do it. Tonight. I'll call her right now and tell her it's over."

"You would really do that?"

"Yes." His sapphire eyes burned with an intensity that made my knees weak. "You're the only woman in my heart, Alessa. The only one who matters. Laura is the past, you are my present, my future, my everything." 

His lips found mine before I could protest, it was soft and tasted like an apology. I breathed in the sweet minty scent that left him, and my fingers wrapped around his neck as I slipped my tongue into his mouth. 

I felt my resolve weaken as I melted into the arms of the man who held my entire world in his hands. 

This was the end of it. It had to be. Jaime had simply been trying to protect my feelings, he already promised he wasn't going to see Laura anymore. 

And I trusted him. He would never deliberately hurt me or risk what we had built together for the sake of a woman who had abandoned my own children years ago. 

Everything would be fine now. The secrets were out, and tomorrow we could go back to being a perfect family once again.