Shadows of deceipt

s household wasn't pea

at as the photo frame slipped from her trembling fingers. The image of her and Steven, captured

when her husband is slipping away. The late nights. The lifeless kisses. The disinte

ped around a woman who wasn't her

lmly, walked to the closet, and began packing. If Steven noticed, he

A slow rot beneath polished perfection. A home built o

y a marriage certificate. And now, Helen knew why: Steven was infertile. A secret she'd only discovered by accident du

she shed, thinking it was her. And all th

l bled into

ter. No drama. No drawn-out confron

hen s

yone. Jus

ar nestled near the coast. The lighting was low, the music

he rim of her glass, lost in tho

ian Wh

his expression unreadable. There was something about him that drew

ked, voice like velv

ard. Then, despite herself, sh

ersation. An honest moment in a wor

ed to be. Sebastian never gave his full story, but his words we

came two. Tw

she stumbled slightly in her heels, he caug

It wasn't romanti

t was

me she barely knew. A man who kissed her like she wasn'

streaming through an unfamiliar window, ta

e-but a note sat

o needed to be reminded the

n's story began-not one

a chain of events that would drag her through the dar

consuming, sou

just the

im again. One night. One m

r something cruele

s showed up at her rented condo three days later. N

ng could bloom in th

ast

him a mistake. But instead, she put the flowers in

that turned into conversations, and conversations th

to smile-he made her want to. He didn't pry into her pain-

egan to bre

top spinning. And dark

of her condo, she found him lean

ev

ailored. Eyes bloodshot from

a prayer he hadn't ea

art sank. "You sh

he said. "But we can

g left to fix,"

hand. "You left bef

ed? Let me believe I was the reason we coul

only for a second. "I

er. "No. You were p

owing up more-at her work, at her yoga class, even at the sa

ing again. Nost

vered Sebastian,

ht after catching sight of them leaving a restaur

ce made Helen freeze

ed. "Oh, sweetheart. You reall

wer-but the qu

dn't exactly told her the whole truth eith

y, dropping a file on her doorstep. "You should

s. A scandal from the Whitaker family's past. A woman found de

t know what

ways. Calm. Collected. But there was a

ou," he said. It

right away. Then: "

d out t

prised. "I was wondering

ked. Her voice was b

d. But yes... my family has secrets. I've tried to bury them.

art had been bruised before. And Steven

hone lit up with a text

etter at hiding his sins. Don't trust him. Don't

ngerous-one foot in the past, one in a

wanted

wanted h

ne in the

her b