All Chapters of Every Promise Was a Lie: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

The sounds from the living room got louder.Every filthy word went into my chest like a needle.My first instinct was to run, and my foot caught a chair.The crash brought both their heads around."When did you get home?"Sabrina asked it with a frown.I didn't answer her. I talked past her, to myself."It must be starting again. Otherwise Bree would never do something this shameless.""She isn't that kind of woman."I said it, ignored the look on her face, and turned toward the bedroom."I need my pills. It's getting worse."I was still muttering when I shut the door.The second it clicked, I slid down the back of it to the floor.My hand was still balled up in my pocket.My nails were buried in my palm.When I opened it, there were four little crescent cuts in the skin.For as long as we'd been married, Sabrina and I were the couple our friends held up as an example.After the diagnosis, she never left my side.I'd always believed marrying her was the luckiest thing

Chapter 2

I shook my head."I saw another doctor this afternoon."Sabrina's face changed on the spot.Anxiety crept into her voice."What doctor? Why?"I turned the question back on her, like I didn't follow."What kind of doctor would I be seeing?"She knew perfectly well that Everett had been with her all afternoon.But she recovered fast and rearranged her expression into something even more concerned."I'm just worried about you. Why didn't you tell me you were going?"I'd have taken the day off and gone with you. In your condition, what am I supposed to do if something happens while you're out there alone?"She looked entirely devoted to my wellbeing.That act had trained me to blame myself for years.I'd believed I wasn't good enough, that my illness had put her through hell.So I'd worked at being better to her, constantly.Now I understood the whole thing was a con.Something hot and furious came up through my chest.I held it down and kept my voice level."He said ther

Chapter 3

The shy look on her face almost made me demand an explanation.If she'd just told me straight out that she loved someone else, I'd have let her go and wished her well.Instead, every inch I'd given her over the years had bought me nothing but this.When she turned away to keep talking, I spat the pill into my hand.Her laughter drifted in from the hall in pieces.I expected the grief to flatten me.Instead I felt strangely calm.Sometimes it only takes a second to be done.I was drifting off when something cold touched my back.I sat straight up.Sabrina yelped."Ah!"I frowned."What are you doing in here?"She wasn't offended. She put her arms around me from behind."Dec, it's been so long since we..."Once, that would have wiped every other thought out of my head.Now all I could see was her and Everett that afternoon.My stomach turned over.I twisted away and gagged.Her face soured."What's that supposed to mean, Declan? Is there another woman?"Do I disgust

Chapter 4

Every relative had arrived and dinner was on the table, and Sabrina still hadn't shown up.I called her a few more times because I didn't know what else to do.She never answered.By the time my father's birthday was over, my mind was made up: I was filing.Dinner had barely started when the doorbell rang.Sabrina and Everett were standing outside."Sabrina, Everett, what a coincidence, the two of you arriving together..."My mother stopped mid-sentence.She'd spotted the two Clearford police officers behind them."What's this about?"There was fear in her voice.Sabrina arranged her face into reluctance and took her time answering."Mom... they're here for Declan."The officers came past them and up to me.One showed his badge and spoke like a man reading off a form."Mr. Foster, we need to ask you about a traffic collision."Around three yesterday morning, a driver hit a pedestrian on Northvale Road and left the scene. The vehicle is registered to you."Before I coul

Chapter 5

"Dec, what are you talking about? Are you having an episode?"Sabrina stepped around the officer and grabbed my arm."Stop fighting it. Let's just get your pill in you first."She was already digging the bottle out of her handbag.The ease of it brought something back.Right after we started dating, we took a trip together.I came down hard with a stomach bug, and she went into that same handbag for medicine.I asked her then why she carried so much of it.Her hand stopped for a beat.Then she answered like it was nothing."I've always been on my own. It's safer to keep a few things on me."I heard the forced toughness under it.I held her and promised I'd take care of her for the rest of her life.I never imagined people could turn that completely.A few years, the same woman, the same motion, and an entirely different reason behind it.Her trying to force the pill into my mouth pulled me out of it.I pushed her hand away.My voice went cold."Don't touch me. You and

Chapter 6

I was about to say more when one of the officers cut in."Save the rest for the station."I didn't fight it. On my way out I turned back to my parents."Mom, Dad, don't worry. I'll be home soon."On the drive to the Clearford Police Department, I hated myself for not ending the marriage sooner.If I had, none of this would have landed on my father's birthday.The second I sat down in the interview room, I asked for a lawyer.They got through the identifying questions, and then Diane arrived.I told them my attorney had evidence that would clear me.I'd put cameras in the common areas of the house while I was building a case on Sabrina's affair.I couldn't stand to watch the footage myself, so Diane kept it in a separate encrypted cloud archive.It hadn't been needed for the divorce yet.Instead it turned into the thing that saved me.The department's digital forensics people spent the day authenticating it, checking timestamps, access logs, and device data.They released

Chapter 7

"You're just another person who'll do anything if it gets you what you want."I let it go by and asked instead, "What are all these people doing in my house?"She glanced at me and twisted a piece of her hair around one finger."I invited them. We're celebrating."I pretended not to follow and asked what she was celebrating.She dropped the act entirely, hooked her arm through Everett's, and told me."I'm celebrating getting to be with the person I actually love."Then, before I could ask anything, she just kept talking.That was how I learned that even the way we met had been staged.She'd wanted to use me to get to Everett.Everett had a girlfriend at the time.Then I told her how I felt.So she took me as the next best thing, the option that kept her near him.Three years ago, Everett ended it with his girlfriend.After Sabrina engineered one accidental run-in after another, the two of them started up behind my back.She was smiling at me, bright as anything, because

Chapter 8

I gave a small, tight smile and stepped aside.Sabrina assumed they'd come back to take me in.She said it with open satisfaction."Officers, this is the man who ran and left that person in the road."You arrested him yesterday. God knows what he pulled to get out."The longer she talked, the more certain she got that she was watching me go down.I stayed where I was and smiled at her.The detectives went right past her and up to Everett."Everett Sloan, our investigation has identified you as the driver in the Northvale Road hit-and-run two nights ago."We need you to come with us."The color went out of his face."Detective, there's been a mistake."Declan was driving. I was at dinner with friends. They'll tell you."Sabrina exploded."What kind of investigation is this? Did he pay you off?"The evidence against him was airtight. You take Everett out of here and I'll report every one of you to your supervisors."The detectives' expressions hardened."Ma'am, keep inte

Chapter 9

Minutes after she ended the stream, my phone started filling up with calls and messages.The things people wrote were vile.I didn't get angry.I let it run, because a correction lands hardest once everyone's already watching.She waited all night for me to react.First thing in the morning, she called.I could hear how pleased with herself she was."Declan, turn yourself in if you've got any sense left. Otherwise there's no telling what these people do to you or your parents."Your family has money. A couple of years inside won't ruin you. Everett clawed his way up to being a doctor. You couldn't possibly understand what that took."Her shamelessness still found new ways to surprise me.I got curious about how far she'd take it."Say all of it. Every demand, right now."She laughed."You should've been this reasonable from the start instead of making me work so hard."Sign the agreement, and now you're paying us a hundred and fifty thousand on top."I hung up without an

Chapter 10

I looked at the pile of luggage by the entryway and let out a breath.The house was already sold.The buyer was taking possession that afternoon.After thinking it over, I dropped Sabrina's things at the building management office.I sent her a message about it and took my own bags back to my parents' place.Early the next morning, pounding on the door woke me up.I opened it and found her outside, wrecked, clothes a mess.Her eyes were red. She reached for me.I stepped out of the way and asked her flatly what she wanted.She started crying."Dec, I know I was wrong. Everett lied to me. That's the only reason I did any of it."I'm sorry. Please forgive me. You're a good man. You're not going to hold all this against me."I couldn't help it. I laughed."You think I'd take back a woman who spent three years sleeping with somebody else?"I'll be honest with you. If you touched me right now, I'd feel dirty."Hearing your voice makes me sick."Since you're here, though, you

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