Page 108 of What the Wife Knew

“I can’t believe this.”

“I was curious about why he was so enamored with Kathryn, so I followed her. Slipped into her house, which was easy because it wasn’t locked. People were more trusting back then.” Mom shrugged as if her words didn’t rip and tear at what little foundation she’d given me. “Anyway, I read her diary. Accidentally found the reference to the map then went hunting for it and uncovered the tape, too. She kept her top-secret stash behind boxes stacked in her closet. A good attempt at hiding but not good enough.”

The pieces finally fit together. Kathryn hadn’t known what evidence I claimed to possess and how it could turn their lives upside down. But then she met Mom and the memories came into focus. Kathryn finally understood Richmond’s downfall would be her downfall.

“The map and the recording belonged to Kathryn.” I had no idea what lie Kathryn told herself to make losing them all those years ago make sense. She probably thought Richmond stole them, but that didn’t matter. Only Mom’s actions mattered.

“She likely kept them as leverage against Richmond. Blackmail. Ironic, right? I’m betting she taped the conversation without him even knowing.” Mom came around the front of the car to my side. “My plan was to go to Richmond and tell him he wasgoing to be a daddy. I had the evidence of his plans for the shooting as a backup in case he didn’t do the right thing.”

The horror of what she just admitted hit me like a punch.

“You knew he was going to kill his whole family and did nothing to stop him.” The same thing I’d accused Kathryn of doing.

“I didn’t know the timing. I’d left a note for him to meet me the next afternoon. It turned out that was the day the of the killings, so he never showed up. The rumors flew around town about finding dead bodies in a house. I immediately knew what had happened and what it meant for my plans.”

She stood a few feet away. Far too close. “You’re telling this story like it’s no big deal.”

“You’re the one who’s so obsessed with the truth. Now you have it. You would have known years ago but you kept delaying.”

The delay. That’s what pissed her off.

Small inconsistencies now made sense. She didn’t magically find the map and tape. She hunted them down and stole them. She didn’t go to Zach’s family for money because she couldn’t. A DNA test would have proven she was a liar. She couldn’t go to Richmond’s parents because he’d killed them. She probably thought he’d kill her next to keep her quiet.

Threatening Richmond with what she knew wouldn’t have helped anyway because, with his parents dead, his money situation was a question mark. That left her with few options and none of the planned-for financial support she needed. So, she waited and let the money pile up. She probably never thought the world would make him into a big hero and give him leverage, but that only delayed her plans. It didn’t destroy them.

I hovered on the brink, teetering between throwing up and screaming the house down, reeling from the idea of Richmondas anything but my enemy. We shared a bloodline. We were fucking married. And all she cared about was her schedule and how I’d messed it up.

“What kind of sick person makes their daughter marry her own father?” We were outside and anyone could see or hear but I was too lost in a whirl of nausea and pain to care. “What if we would have slept together?”

“That would have been unfortunate but imagine Richmond’s face when I told him what he’d done.”

Unfortunate. That’s the word she picked.

“You don’t care about me at all.” I’d danced around the realization for years. Thought it but fooled myself into thinking I was being too harsh. Not anymore.

“My plan wasn’t about you, Addison. It was about me settling the score with Richmond by making him pay to get out of your marriage and to keep me quiet. Getting the money I should have gotten back then. But Kathryn killed him first and I didn’t get to tell him who you were.”

“To gloat.”

She rolled her eyes. “Fine. Use that word.”

“You’re disgusting.”

The amusement faded from her face and her tone. “Do not talk to me that way.”

I walked back to the car and grabbed my bag. I’d been the only one who ever craved a bond between us and now I didn’t want anything from her. Regardless of the pain shooting through me and the grinding sense of failure, I was done.

I’d sacrificed so much to please her. She’d sacrificed me. There was no way to forgive her for that, especially not when she insisted she didn’t need forgiveness.

She watched every move. “What are you doing?”

Unable to see anything in front of me, I finally gave up and dumped the contents of my bag on the hood. More rummaging until I spotted the checkbook. The ink blurred as my pen scratched out her name. I would not cry over her ever again.

I ripped out the check and held it out to her. “This buys my permanent separation from you.”

She took the check and frowned when she looked at it. “Do you honestly think I’d agree to walk away from Richmond’s estate? That’s millions of dollars. You’re calling me names and spouting off in judgment, but you’re the selfish one. You don’t get to hoard all the winnings.”

I was numb to her dismissal now. The check would clear out one of the accounts I made Richmond set up for me. The low six figures and the amount still wasn’t high enough for her.

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