Todos los capítulos de He Called Me His Wife’s Cousin : Capítulo 11 - Capítulo 20

"He's Nathan's son."The words came out of me in a whisper. Then I said them again, louder, because Rachel deserved to hear them clearly."Ethan is Nathan's son. And I'm not his cousin, Rachel." I slid the chain off the door. "I'm his wife."Rachel stared at me.Then she laughed. A thin, awful sound that didn't belong in her mouth."No," she said. "No. You're... he told me... we grew up together. Summers at the lake. He told me.""He told you a lot of things.""He cried at our wedding." Rachel's voice cracked. "He stood at the altar and cried. Do you know what that's like? A man like that, crying in front of two hundred people because he was so happy?"I did know. He had cried at ours too. In a small church with folding chairs and forty guests, with my mother's veil pinned crooked in my hair."He cries easily," I said quietly. "It's one of the things that makes people believe him.""Stop it." Her voice rose. Down the hall, a neighbor's television went quiet. "Stop lying to me. You've

"Rachel. We're leaving."Nathan held his hand out to her across the narrow hallway. Like nothing had happened. Like he hadn't just stood in my building and tried to take my son's father away from him in one sentence.Rachel looked at his hand.She looked at me.Then she looked at the shoebox on the hall table, the marriage certificate lying on top of it under the buzzing light."Don't touch me," she said.Nathan's hand dropped.But when he turned toward the stairs, she followed him. Slowly. Like someone walking in her sleep. She didn't look back. She didn't say goodbye. She still had the hospital photo pressed against her chest."Rachel," I said. "That's mine."She stopped on the top step. For a second, I thought she wouldn't give it back.Then she set it face down on the banister and kept walking.Their footsteps went down, one floor, two floors. The street door banged. A car engine started outside, and through the hallway window I watched headlights sweep across the wet street and d

"Rachel!"Adrian took the steps two at a time. I stayed at the bottom, my shoes in a cold puddle, my hand tight on the strap of my bag.His sister didn't move."Rachel, where have you been? You didn't answer your phone all night.""I know." Her voice was flat. She didn't look at him. She was still looking at me. "I was busy.""Busy?" He reached for her arm. "You didn't come home. You left your coat at my house. I thought something had happened to you.""Something did happen to me."Adrian stopped.Rachel finally turned her eyes to her brother. They were swollen, the skin under them bruised purple from no sleep. She had put on lipstick. It was perfect. Somehow that made the rest of her face worse."Did you know?" she asked him."Know what?"She searched his face. Then she looked back down the steps at me."No," she said slowly. "You didn't. She didn't tell you either."Adrian's head turned. His eyes found mine at the bottom of the steps."Tell me what?"I opened my mouth.Rachel turned

"Order! Order in this court!"The judge's gavel cracked down three times. It didn't matter. The room had already come apart.Nathan was on his feet. Barlow had his hand on Nathan's arm, pulling him back down. Somewhere behind me, a woman said *oh my God* out loud. The clerk had stopped typing, her fingers frozen over the keys.And Rachel sat in the witness chair with her hands in her lap, perfectly still, like she had just set down something too heavy to carry."Your Honor, that marriage was over!" Nathan's voice cracked across the room. "She knew it was over! She let me go, she never once asked...""Mr. Reid, sit *down*," the judge said."She *abandoned* me first, she...""Mr. Barlow, control your client, or I will have him removed."Barlow pulled him down by the sleeve. Nathan sat. Sweat shone along his hairline."Mrs. Doyle." The judge leaned toward the witness stand. Her voice was very calm. "Do you understand what you just said? Under oath?""Yes.""You're telling this court that

"Yes," I said. "I knew."We were so close on the stairs that I could see a small nick on his jaw where he had cut himself shaving that morning. I could smell the rain on his coat. Cedar under it."I knew," I said again, because I wasn't going to lie to him anymore. Not even a soft one. "I knew she was his wife. I knew it the second she called me that first afternoon and said your name."His eyes searched my face. Back and forth."And you still came in the next morning.""I had to.""You *chose* to.""Yes," I said. "I chose to. And I'd choose it again."He flinched."Not because of you," I said. "Not at first. Because of Ethan. Because I couldn't afford to be proud. Do you know what that's like, Adrian? To stand in a pharmacy and count coins? To choose between his medicine and the electric bill?"His jaw moved. He didn't answer."I'm not sorry I took the job," I said. My voice was shaking now. "I'm sorry I lied to you. I'm sorry you found out the way you did. I'm sorry I let you sit ac