The Perfect Lie

Chapter 2Lena jolted awake. She panted for breath in sharp little gasps, the escape of a dream fading away between her fingers like sand. She could have sworn for a single, fleeting second that she'd been elsewhere-somewhere ordinary, but not quite. When she pushed the blankets off to sit up, however, and took in the four walls above her, however, reality fell firmly into place.Ethan's house. No-their house.That's what he called it. Home, life. She had woken up in this bed for weeks, but something inside her twisted whenever she heard the words. She didn't recall choosing this location. Didn't recall the first time she crossed the threshold.The memories would come back, Ethan explained to her. It was only a matter of time. She had been involved in a terrible accident, and her mind was ill recovering.The more she tried to find her past, the more she realized how much was lost; the bits that were remaining didn't match.Lena slid out of the bed, her toes curling against the cold ha

Chapter 4Lena sat on the edge of the bed, her gaze locked on the woman who looked back at her in the mirror. She was a stranger-wide-eyed, uncertain, lost.Her fingers traced the edge of the wooden top, icy and smooth against her fingertips. The memory of the woman on the street lingered with her like a promise on the edge of her tongue. That flash of recognition, the curl of her gut in response, was significant.Who was she?The thought bothered her. The way the woman had looked at her wasn't mere politeness. It was something more, something more profound. She had seemed cautious.She had felt the subtle rise in his tension, the shift of his body toward her as if shielding her.From what?Lena swallowed, tearing her gaze from the mirror. There were more questions than answers, and the only person who could help her fill in those answers was the one she was finding herself trusting less and less.The approaching footsteps made her tighten up.A heartbeat after that, Ethan appeared at

Chapter 6Lena's mind was reeling as she absorbed the name: Noah Graves. That Ethan was not who he claimed to be had shattered the delicate reality she had been clinging to. She had to find Noah, but she could not be reckless. Ethan was cunning, and one mistake could provoke him to take notice of her growing awareness.Ethan's weekend adventure hung in the background, and to Lena, it was a challenge and a possibility. She wanted all the facts before they set out. As Ethan had to work, she had some hours to herself.She booted up the laptop in Ethan's office, praying that he hadn't put any sort of monitoring on it. The desktop contained no personal files, only standard applications and an empty background. She opened the browser and typed "Noah Graves" into the search box.There were thousands of hits that covered the screen. She filtered her search to her location, hoping to get more specificity. A few of the entries jumped out at her:Noah Graves – Local Business Owner: Owner of Grav

Chapter 8 Lena sat in the passenger seat, her hands crossed tightly in her lap, her back stiff despite the heater blasting warm air through the car. Ethan drove in silence, his hands wrapped around the steering wheel with practiced familiarity, his gaze on the road ahead. The winter trees flashed by the window, long bare limbs stretched out over the bottomless white. The drive home from the city was supposed to be a homecoming, a move toward freedom. It was a creeping advance toward something terrible. Lena had practiced all morning words, every glance, every breath so carefully under control. She couldn't afford one misstep. She was acting the part of the ideal wife, the loving mate with no doubts, no covert plans of flight. But her mind was racing inside. She knew Ethan was observing. He always was. "Happy to be going back?" His tone cut through the silence, smooth as always, but Lena saw through it. There was something under it. Something in waiting. She smiled at him, maki

Chapter 10The door slammed shut with a click, the sound echoing through the stillness of the house like a gunshot.Lena's heart pounded against the inside of her head as she gripped the creased, folded square of paper in her hand. Her fingers, slippery with sweat, were curled hard around it, the thin sheet of paper folding at the least pressure.Motionless behind her stood Ethan, a looming presence like a shadow."Wrong address, huh?"Lena forced herself to turn around, her face carefully serene. "Yeah," she murmured, stuffing the note into her sweater pocket. "He was confused."Ethan didn't react. Didn't move.But she felt that small tension in his jaw, the tightening of his fingers at his side.Lena knew him too well. She knew he didn't believe her."You should've let me reply," Ethan finally said, voice smooth, trained. "Strangers on our porch this late at night. It's not safe."The threat was there, woven into the worry.Lena gulped. "I didn't think it mattered."Ethan studied he