Page 77 of Crossroads of Love

She straightens a little, her fingers finally separating and resting against her knees. “I won’t fight the death benefits going to the child.”

“What?” I say, caught off guard.

That’s not where I thought this was going.

“The baby,” Lena says, looking directly at me. “Aaron’s other child. They’ll be taken care of. The death benefits he allotted… they should go to the child. If I could fight it, I wouldn’t.”

I stare at her. “Lena, are you serious? After everything he did? You’re still going to—”

“I’m not doing it for Aaron.” She cuts me off. “This isn’t about him. It’s about the child. None of this is that baby’s fault. It’s not even that woman’s fault. I know how convincing my husband could be. That child didn’t ask to be brought into the world under these circumstances, and they shouldn’t have to suffer because their father was a lying, manipulative bastard.”

I’m floored. I try to wrap my head around her logic and her kindness. “I don’t know if I could do that,” I admit, shaking my head. “You’re being so calm about this, so… generous. I mean, how are you not angry?”

She looks away for a moment, her gaze falling to the floor. She lets out a long sigh.

“Oh, I’m angry, Gavin. I’m furious. But I’m also tired. I’m tired of being angry all the time. It doesn’t help anything. Aaron was convincing, you know? He knew how to lie and manipulate people into believing whatever he wanted them to.”

I let out a slow breath. “You’re a better person than me, Lena.”

She smiles, but it’s a sad, worn, and tired one, the kind that comes from someone who’s been through hell and back. I reach out and take her hand in mine; I just need to touch her right now.

“I don’t know about that. I just know what it’s like to be fooled by him. I was married to the man. I know how many times I fell for his bullshit. I can’t blame someone else for believing the same lies I did.”

“What he did… it isn’t a reflection of you,” I tell her. “It’s a reflection of him, his insecurities. You can’t let his choices make you feel like you did something wrong.”

I remember needing to hear those words after learning about Sarah’s infidelity. I’m not innocent in the downfall of our marriage by any means, but Sarah’s cheating was about her and not me.

She doesn’t respond immediately. She just stares at me for a moment, her eyes narrowing slightly as if she’s studying me, trying to figure something out. Finally, she shakes her head before she leans into me. My arm goes around her shoulders, and I pull her into me.

“I appreciate that. But I haven’t felt like I was really married to Aaron in a long time.”

“What do you mean?”

She exhales slowly, her fingers tracing idle patterns on the edge of her knee. “A few years after Jayla was born, I caught him in a big lie. He’d been spending money we didn’t have, but instead of admitting it, he tried to convince me our account had been hacked. He even claimed his identity was stolen. It was elaborate and convincing. For a second, I almost believed him.Almost.” She gives a bitter laugh, shaking her head. “But when I started looking deeper, I realized how much he’d been lying to me. It wasn’t just about the money. He lied about a lot of things. Big things, small things… they all added up.”

I’m stunned. I never knew any of this. Aaron had always seemed to have everything under control, like he was this responsible, upstanding guy. But hearing this… it’s like I’m seeing him through a completely different lens.

“I had no idea.”

“No one did. I didn’t tell anyone because I was embarrassed and ashamed. I didn’t want people to know I’d married a man who could lie so easily and smoothly. He’s the sheriff’s son and made it clear that he’d take his dad’s place when Henry retired. I wanted the mayor position when Charles retired. It all…none of the reality fit the life we wanted. So I hid it.” She pauses, her eyes darkening.

My jaw tightens. “Lena, why didn’t you—”

She cuts me off, her voice hardening. “What was I going to do, Gavin? Leave him? Break up our family? I stayed because of Jayla. For her. Not for him.” She shifts slightly, her hands pressing against the fabric of the couch. “But emotionally… mentally… I left him a long time ago. By the time Jayla caught him making out with one of her teammate’s moms, I wasn’t evenshocked. I wasn’t surprised. I was just… done. If it weren’t for Jayla and a friend catching him, she would have never known.”

I shake my head, still trying to process everything she’s telling me. I never imagined things were this bad between them, never realized how much she’d been carrying all these years. I dig my hand into the couch cushion, needing to squeeze something.

I left because I thought he was better for her.

My dad had protected Aaron all of his life, and this, this is what he was capable of? He was always so hard on me, so adamant that I was the problem when my brother actually was.

It still doesn’t make sense why he treated me like a problem all my life. It does feel nice to know that the golden child wasn’t that at all.

Seems like Dad put his eggs in the wrong basket.

“You were miserable,” I say quietly.

“We both were,” she replies softly. “I told him that he had to end it with the woman and any others he had waiting in the wings for him. I set up appointments for couples therapy, and he did counseling for himself in order for me not to file for divorce. He went to one appointment and said that I was unreasonable, and the therapist recommended divorce. He didn’t go to counseling more than twice, and I didn’t want to fight him over it. Ultimately, we stayed together for Jayla, but we were both miserable. And the worst part is… we put on this show for everyone, this fake persona like we were this happy family, but inside, I was dying. He was, too, I think. He just handled it differently.”

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