All Chapters of The Second Wife's Revenge : Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

The doorbell rang at 8:47 PM on a Tuesday, and with it, my entire life shattered.I know the exact time because I was staring at the oven clock, watching my husband's dinner dry out for the third time that week. The coq au vin. His favorite, the one I'd spent four hours preparing, the one that was supposed to remind him of our honeymoon in Provence. It was turning into expensive leather in a Le Creuset pot that cost more than my first car.My phone sat on the marble counter, screen dark. Three unanswered calls. Two texts, both read but not replied to.Flynn had left his office at 6:15. His assistant confirmed it when I called, her voice carefully neutral. The drive took twenty minutes. He was two hours and twelve minutes late.I touched the string of pearls at my throat. A gift from Flynn. Like almost everything I wore these days.The cashmere sweater in the exact shade of beige he'd mentioned he liked. The honey blonde hair I maintained every six weeks, even though I'd been auburn be

Sienna left at 9:47 PM.I know because I was staring at that same damn clock again. Trying to figure out when my life had become a schedule of small humiliations.Flynn stood in the center of the living room, still wearing his coat. Like he was deciding whether to stay or run.I wanted him to run. I wanted him to chase after Sienna and never come back.Instead, he turned to me with that expression I'd seen a thousand times. Wounded. Misunderstood. The man who needed me to make it better.He removed his coat slowly. Draped it over the arm of the sofa with careful precision.Sat down. Patted the cushion next to him.A command disguised as an invitation.I stayed standing."I should have told you about Sienna." His voice was soft. Reasonable. "I know that now."I said nothing."She left me devastated. I searched for months. Eventually, I had to accept she was probably dead. You don't file for divorce when someone's dead, Aria. You grieve.""But you didn't have her declared legally dead e

I chose the coffee shop, not Sienna.Neutral territory. Public place. Easy exit if I needed one.The Village café was small, cramped, loud with the hiss of espresso machines and indie music. The opposite of anywhere Flynn would go.Which was exactly the point.I arrived fifteen minutes early. Took a table in the back corner with sightlines to both doors.And waited.Felt ridiculous being this paranoid.Felt vindicated when Sienna walked in precisely on time, scanned the room like a professional, and spotted me immediately.We were both running from something.She looked different today. Jeans. Simple sweater. Hair in a ponytail. Minimal makeup.Younger. More vulnerable.Her pregnant belly was obvious without the designer dress hiding it.Dark circles under her eyes. She hadn't slept either."Thank you for coming," I said."Thank you for calling."We stared at each other. Awkward.What was the protocol for meeting your husband's other wife?The barista appeared. Young guy with a man bu

I'd almost canceled the appointment three times.My annual gynecological exam felt absurdly mundane given that my life was imploding. Who cared about a pap smear when you'd just discovered your husband was a bigamist and you might be a kidnapped heiress?But Dr. Kim's office had called twice to confirm. And some ingrained sense of responsibility made me show up.Besides, Flynn thought I was at the salon. I needed him thinking everything was normal.So here I sat in a paper gown, trying not to think about the newspaper clipping hidden in my studio drawer.Dr. Sarah Kim had been my doctor for three years. She was maybe forty. No-nonsense but warm. The kind of doctor who actually listened."How are you feeling?" She checked my blood pressure."Fine.""Any concerns today?""No.""Still trying to conceive?""Yes."The answers were automatic. Rehearsed.Two years of trying. Two years of disappointment.The tests had shown nothing wrong physically. "Unexplained infertility," they'd called it

Safe Storage Solutions looked exactly like every storage facility ever built. Concrete block building. Fluorescent lights. Smell of dust and old cardboard.I'd driven across the city in a daze. Flynn's texts kept pinging my phone.Dinner with the Sterlings tonight. Where was I?I'd stopped answering after the third message.Gloria was dead, possibly murdered. I was potentially a kidnapped heiress. Flynn had been drugging me for two years.The Sterlings and their dinner party could go to hell.I had a storage unit to open and a past to uncover.The facility manager barely looked at me. I showed him the death certificate."Unit 447. Been hers for..." He checked his computer. "Twenty-two years. Paid up through next year."Twenty-two years. When I came to Gloria."Never seen her come here much. Maybe once a year to add something."He left me alone in the hallway. The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead.The unit was small. Five by ten.The roll-up door opened with Gloria's key. I pulled th