Page 23 of The Liar's Wife

My teeth ground down so hard I winced, releasing the tension. The waitress approached their table and took their orders. I could see the way she was looking at them, as if they were the perfect family.

To unknowing eyes, I knew that’s what they looked like.

To mine, they were a family destined to be torn apart. And mine would be the hands to do the tearing.

Chapter Fourteen

Ben surprised me by staying at the restaurant well past lunch, well past the time that their table was cleared and the waitress had gone from enchanted to annoyed.

When they finally decided to leave, separating from each other and walking in opposite directions, I slipped my phone back into my pocket. I’d taken three photos, all blurry, during their dinner. I couldn’t take them to Ty. It was embarrassing enough having to go to him at all. I couldn’t bring him photos that were so pixelated and grainy you couldn’t tell who they were or what was happening in them.

Ben pulled out, though rather than turning left, he turned right, then right again. We were going in the opposite direction of home.Why?

He took the turn onto the interstate, and I hung back, waiting until they were several cars ahead of me to follow him. He was heading to Crestview. Even before I knew it, I knew.

I should’ve stopped him. Called him and told him I knew everything, but if I wanted this to work, I couldn’t. If he wasgoing to be entitled to half my life savings, when he’d come into the marriage with none, I was going to make sure he wasn’t entitled to alimony. And to do that, as sick as it made me, I had to let it play out.

Kat’s car was nowhere in sight. He wasn’t following her.He knows the way to her house without following her. He’s been there enough that he has it memorized.The realization struck me, and that fact, more than anything else, broke my heart. He’d been there before. How many times? While I was pregnant? While I was dealing with morning sickness and mood swings and an unbearable fear of what I was doing, was he coming to Crestview to see his mistress? Was he pretending I didn’t exist when he was with her?

I batted back tears, turning onto the Crestview exit after he did. He turned right, rather than left, and I grew hopeful for a second. Maybe I’d been wrong.

Eventually, though, he pulled into the drive of the familiar house and climbed from the car just as I made a lap. For fear he’d see my car and recognize it, I parked this time in front of the house behind hers, on a completely separate street. The driveway was empty, lights off. No signs of life.

I climbed from the car and rushed across the road, darting through the yard of the empty house. From their back yard, I could clearly see into Kat’s. I stared at the tree house where I’d hidden before. I’d have to be even more careful this time, especially with Ben there. I’d been so lucky last time, but that may not be the case anymore.

I stepped into her back yard, hurrying across the ankle-high grass and toward the tree. I launched myself onto it, placing a foot on the first rung, when I heard the back door open. My stomach hurt from the sudden burst of movement, but I had to keep moving.

Shoot.

Shoot.

Shoot.

Shoot.

I climbed the ladder quickly, keeping my arms and legs as close together as possible to avoid sticking out behind the width of the tree. I shoved myself up, laying flat on the floor of the tree house with a pounding heart and ice-cold veins. Who was it? Who was coming? Had they seen me?

I didn’t dare lift my head, too afraid of who’d be looking back at me.

“That’s better, isn’t it, little guy?” I heard her ask. I lifted my head on instinct. To my great relief, they weren’t looking for me and hadn’t discovered me. I shifted my weight, sliding my legs against the wooden floor until I was in a crouched position. I pushed up, moving a millimeter a second as I inched my way across the tree house and toward the window.

Once I’d reached it, I lifted up, staring down at the scene below. Ben and Kat were sitting on her patio, Gray resting peacefully in her arms. It stung. Worse than Ben betraying me, Gray had done so, too. I knew it wasn’t rational, but that’s how it felt. Seeing him so close to her, his little fist gripping the fabric of her shirt, it was enough to make me sick. I couldn’t stop the hot, angry tears from falling as I watched them together.

“He likes you,” Ben said, cocking his head to the side to look at her. My hands balled into fists.

“Of course he does,” Kat said. “Everyone likes me.”Not everyone, I assure you.“Oh, Ben, he’s so perfect.”

I could hear the smile in his voice, despite not being able to see it. “I think he’s pretty great, too.” He sighed, leaningback and resting his arms behind his head. He glanced up at the tree house, and I shot down, breathing heavily.Did he see me?“He’d love growing up in a place like this.”

“I wish he could,” she said sadly. “I always dreamed of my kids playing in this yard. In my old tree house.”

They were silent, and I didn’t dare stand back up. My heart thudded so loudly I was sure they could hear it. A spider crawled across the board above my hand, and I jerked it back, suppressing a scream. Down below, Gray began to fuss.

“Oh, no, sweet boy. Don’t cry. Momma’s here.”

My stomach tensed at her words, and I had to squeeze the board in front of me to keep from launching from the tree house, Spiderman-style. I couldn’t stop myself from looking back out the window, where Kat could be seen, lowering the edge of her shirt for my son and placing him to her breast.

No.