A Castle Built on Lies
For the seven years after our marriage, I spend whole nights in the prayer room before he will even touch me.
Eric Compton says it is to atone for what I owe Monica Lynch.
When his mother, Barbara Lane, pushes me to fulfill my wifely duties again, I overhear Eric's friends laughing.
"Let me think. How many rounds of IVF has Avery done this year? She's trying very hard to get pregnant."
"She probably doesn't know there's no way she's ever getting pregnant with Eric's kid."
Eric scoffs. "Every time we're done, I give her a glass of milk. After all these years of birth control, it'd be a miracle if she got pregnant."
He adds, "Everything she's suffered through is just payback for driving Monica away."
I smile bitterly and send the recording to Richard Compton.
"I'm not the lucky one meant to carry on the Compton name. Can I go now?"