Page 50 of What the Wife Knew

In her mind, that one act of protecting me—staging the dead body in an alley and making it look like a robbery gone wrong—showed her love for me. Maybe it did. Maybe that was all the genuine feeling she could muster for me or the sum total of what I deserved. I didn’t have the energy to examine the situation too closely.

“This request isn’t only about me. Richmond needs to pay for what he did. He killed my dreams.”

By “her dreams” she meant Zach Bryant. The boy caught in the crossfire at school that day twenty-seven years ago. The one Richmond didn’t plan to kill. Mom’s teen obsession.

The father I never knew.

She clasped her hands together in front of her. The fake diamond band she wore caught the light. “I told you the night I moved the body for you that one day I would need you to do a little thing for me in return.”

Sacrifice my future and risk my life for her quest. “It’s not little.”

She shrugged. “Big or small, your time is up. You’re safe now but the police won’t overlook a murder, even an old one, if they know about it.”

Blackmail.

She leaned forward and smoothed a hand over my cheek.The gesture, so close to loving and affectionate, always made me yearn for more. Made me regret that I couldn’t be who and what she wanted. Reminded me that giving birth to me meant her dropping out of school and surviving a brutal beating by her stepdad.

“Addison.” Her voice turned sweet with all evidence of our verbal sparring gone. “My beautiful daughter. It’s time for you to fulfill your destiny.”

I tried not to lean into her touch. I’d read enough self-help books aboutbreaking the cycleto know this toxic relationship sucked the life out of me. That my loyalty to her wasn’t reciprocated. Still, I craved her acceptance. The idea of experiencing just one day where she appreciated me without expecting something in return... well, that wasn’t going to happen.

She wasn’t going to let this go either. She’d been pushing me to act since high school.

I stopped mentally running and accepted my sick fate. There was no other way to move forward. I had to go through this to be free of her. “How am I supposed to pay my rent while I’m hunting down this destiny?”

“Consider that an incentive. The sooner you get to Richmond Dougherty, the sooner paying your bills won’t be an issue.”

Chapter Thirty-Four

Her

Present Day

Mom and I survived the first night together in a house in more than a decade. I’d left home as soon as possible, right after high school, and had been on the run from her, more or less, since then. I’d leave. She’d find me. Then the cycle would start again.

A few hours together and we fell back into old habits, which centered on me trying to please her and failing miserably. Ever since the threat-scribbled-on-the-wall night, I’d slept in a guest room down the hall. Mom eyed the primary suite when she arrived. The message on the wall was no longer readable but I couldn’t risk her somehow deciphering it, so I gave her Richmond’s old suite instead. Seemed like cosmic justice to put her in his space.

While I hoped she’d scurry back out of town after a night or two it was more likely she’d move in and start raffling off the furniture. She was accustomed to apartments and just getting by. This house, the property, the bank accounts, offered her a life she’d been craving since before she got pregnant with me.

We sat across from each other at the kitchen table. I pretended to scroll on my phone. She sipped her latte and hummed, which meant she was thinking. That was never good.

I had to ask.

“Where’s the new car?” The used one I bought her after much begging.

“What car?”

Not an unexpected answer but still. “I gave you money for... You know what? Never mind.”

Mom took a long sip of coffee. “I had other expenses, but now that you mention it my current car isn’t safe. I will need a new one soon. Not a used one. A brand-new one with all the shiny extras.”

At this rate I’d run through Richmond’s stockpiled money in record time. “The estate hasn’t been resolved.”

“Why?”

“Because people think I killed Richmond.” That wasn’t the only reason. Richmond hadn’t been dead that long and Elias was still settling all of the outstanding financial issues. I was fine because I had access to my account and the funds in other accounts where I’d been listed as a joint owner, but Mom didn’t need that rundown. “Hell, even you think I killed him.”

“The man was garbage. He deserved an unglamorous end.” She shrugged. “But we’re talking about you and your responsibilities. You always need to cover your tracks. Have a contingency plan. Not leave any loopholes his greedy family and friends can drive through.”

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