Chapter 3: The Woman Behind the Lie
I stared at Cole.
For a moment, I thought I had misunderstood him.
“What did you say?””
He locked his phone.
“Nothing.””
I almost laughed.
Nothing.
That was the word everyone used when they wanted to hide something.
“Don’t do that.””
My voice was quiet.
“Don’t stand there and act like you didn’t just tell me my mother wasn’t the first.””
Darla looked at Cole.
“What is she talking about?””
That question caught my attention.
My mother sounded genuinely confused.
And somehow, that frightened me more.
Cole rubbed his face.
“I didn’t mean to say it like that.””
“Then say it the right way.””
He looked exhausted.
“I made mistakes.””
I felt something inside me crack.
“Mistakes?””
I stood up.
“You don’t get to call betrayal a mistake.””
The baby moved beneath my hand.
A tiny reminder that even while my world was breaking, life was still growing inside me.
Cole noticed.
His expression softened.
“I love you.””
I stepped away.
“No.””
“Emily—”
“No. You love the version of me who didn’t know the truth.””
He looked hurt.
But I couldn’t let that matter.
Not anymore.
Darla sat down slowly.
“I need to tell you something.””
I looked at her.
“I’m listening.””
She wiped her eyes.
“Cole and I didn’t plan for this to happen.””
I almost smiled.
“People always say that.””
She looked down.
“But there was someone before me.””
Cole closed his eyes.
“Darla.””
“No,” she said.
“She deserves to know.””
My chest tightened.
“Who?””
Neither of them answered immediately.
Then Darla whispered:
“Rachel.””
The name meant nothing.
At first.
Then I remembered.
Rachel.
Cole’s coworker.
The woman he told me was “just a friend.””
The woman whose name appeared on his phone once late at night.
The woman he said I was being insecure about.
I looked at him.
“Rachel?””
Cole looked away.
That was enough.
I walked to the kitchen counter and held onto it.
“How many?””
“Emily…”
“How many women?””
“No one else.””
The speed of his answer made me suspicious.
I turned around.
“You hesitated.””
He stayed silent.
Darla looked at him.
“You told me there were only two.””
Two.
The word echoed.
My mother.
Rachel.
How many more secrets were buried underneath my marriage?
Cole stepped closer.
“I was unhappy.””
I stared at him.
The anger that rose inside me was stronger than the sadness.
“You were unhappy?””
My voice shook.
“So you destroyed our family?””
“No.””
“Yes.””
The word came out sharp.
“You had choices. You had every chance to leave. You had every chance to tell me the truth.””
I pointed toward the nursery hallway.
“That room is filled with things we bought together. Clothes we picked together. Books we read together.””
My voice broke.
“And while I was building a future, you were collecting secrets.””
Cole looked like he wanted to cry.
“I’m sorry.””
I shook my head.
“I don’t know if sorry is enough anymore.””
A knock came from the front door.
All three of us froze.
It was almost midnight.
Nobody should have been there.
Cole looked nervous.
“Did you call someone?””
I shook my head.
The knock came again.
Three slow knocks.
Darla stood.
“Who is that?””
Nobody answered.
I walked toward the door.
My hand hovered over the handle.
Every instinct told me not to open it.
But after everything I had discovered that day, I knew one thing.
I was done being the last person to know the truth.
I opened the door.
A woman stood on the porch.
She looked at Cole.
Then at me.
Her eyes moved down to my pregnant belly.
And she whispered:
“Emily… I’m sorry. I should have told you months ago.””
My blood turned cold.
May you like
Because I recognized her.
It was Rachel.
