Page 43 of Altered

You can't keep living a lie…

"You good, HC?" Hunter's voice broke through my thoughts, distracting me from the imminent sense of doom cloaking over my heart, that had brought with it a surging urgency to run like hell.

"I'm uh…" Swallowing deeply, I forced myself to push the truck door open and climb out. "Not really." Closing the door behind me, I swung around and looked up at him. "But I will be," I whispered.

One look at his face and I knew I was doing the right thing.

For me.

Inhaling a deep, calming breath, I put one foot in front of the other in the direction of my husband's house.

Hunter trailed after me as I walked to the front door, giving me space, but still lurking in the background, ready and willing to jump in and back me up at a second's notice.

Knowing he was there, the driver of my own personal getaway car, I mustered up the courage to open the front door and walk inside.

"Don’t come in," I whispered, turning back to look at Hunter. "I need to do this on my own."

I watched his jaw tick multiple times over, but he nodded stiffly and then sparked up a cigarette. "I'll be right out here, sweetheart."

Knowing that was the only reason I felt strong enough to walk inside.

The sight of Annabelle standing in the middle of Jordan's kitchen was the last thing I had expected to see when I walked inside.

Instantly, I felt my face heating to the point I felt like I was two seconds away from bursting into flames.

This was going to be hard enough without her standing around as a spectator.

"Finally," Annabelle snapped, glaring at me like I was the biggest piece of shit on the planet. "The prodigal wife decides to return." The moment she locked eyes on my face, she physically blanched. "What," she hissed, pointing at my face, "isthat?"

Immediately, my hand shot up to cover my cheek, a complete kneejerk reaction. "I had an accident," I squeezed out, feeling the anxiety claw at my gut.

"An accident." She arched a finely plucked brow. "With what; a lawnmower?"

The sting of her comment caused every insecurity I had ever felt to burst to the surface, but I would rather die than let her see the vulnerability inside.

"Where's Jordan?" I quickly diverted the conversation by asking. "I need to talk to him."

"Waiting for me to pick him up from thehospital," she sneered, huffing out a breath. "But then you'd know that, if you turned on your phone once in a while."

"The hospital?" I balked. "Why – what happened to him?"

"Like you give a shit," she spat.

"Tell me, dammit," I snapped. When she moved to walk past me, I grabbed her arm and swung her around to face me. "What the hell happened to him?"

"You happened, you fucking whore!" Annabelle roughly shook my hand off before placing both hands on my chest and shoving me hard. "He fell off the wagon because you are a dirty, lying slut who's been spreading her legs for the felon," she practically screamed into my face.

My world collapsed in the moment it took to register the words she'd just spoken.

He knew?

Heknew…

Staggering backwards from the force of her shove, I caught myself unsteadily on the table, breaking my fall.

But I was unable to catch the shattered fragments of my world as it crumbled around me.

"How…." My voice trailed off as I tried to make sense of what she was telling me. "What did he… how did he –"

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