Page 66 of You Will Never Be Me

“Did you kill Meredith?”

I shake my head. “No.” The lie comes out surprisingly easy. Because, in a way, I didn’t kill Meredith. She did it to herself. She left me with no recourse.

“Alright.” She tilts her head to one side and thinks for a bit. “We’ll need Ben to work with us here. We need him on camera, telling the world why Meredith was at the open house. What’s wrong?”

I realize I’m frowning. “Um…Ben and I are not really on good terms right now.”

Now, it’s Helena’s turn to frown. “That’s not good, Aspen. That’s a really bad idea. You don’t want a pissed-off husband right now. You need to show a united front. He needs to be right there by your side, convincing everyone that his loving wife couldn’t have murdered an ant, never mind her best friend.”

“Yeah, the thing is, he…kind of thinks I killed her?” I close my eyes. God, that sounded so bad.

“Oh dear,” Helena says. “And why does he think that?”

It’s a fight to keep myself from squirming in my seat. “I—we’ve been having problems for a long time now. The resentment’s been building up, and some nights, I like to go out for a drive on my own because the atmosphere at home just gets so thick and unbearable. Anyway, I did that about a month ago, and—”

“You went for a midnight drive around the time Meredith was killed?”

“Yes.”

Helena sighs. “And I’m assuming you don’t have an alibi.”

“No. I was driving around aimlessly, singing sad songs.”

“Right. And that’s why Ben thinks you might have something to do with Meredith’s death.”

“Yes.”

Helena sucks in her breath through her teeth. “Alright. You need to get on his good side. There’s no way around it. He has to show support for you. He has to get on camera and explain why Meredith was at the open house. Preferably the answer is because she was there looking for a house to buy.”

I give a weak smile. If only that were the reason why she wasat the open house. “What if people don’t believe Ben when he says that?”

“Of course they won’t. It’s too good a story to have him sleep with her. Sorry for my bluntness.”

“It’s fine. Ben hasn’t been faithful for a long time.”

Helena’s eyebrows rise. “Has he—? With Meredith?”

“No, that was new. I know he’s been with other women since we got married.”

“Hmm.” Helena taps her chin for a bit. I can practically see the gears in her mind clacking away. “And you don’t seem to mind this very much. Are you in an open marriage?”

The way she asks this makes me pause before answering. “Would it…be a good thing if we were in an open marriage?”

“Well, it’ll show that you were less likely to get angry when you found out he was sleeping with Meredith.”

“Ah. Then yes, we are in an open marriage.”

“Okay. But you haven’t—”

“No.”

Helena nods. “Good. As much as I hate to say this, society is a lot less understanding when the wife partakes in an open marriage.”

“Hah. Yeah, I know that much. No, I haven’t had time to have flings.”

“Alright, Aspen. Try to get a good night’s sleep. Record a video first thing tomorrow morning, preferably with Ben. And run it by me before posting.”

“Always.” Against all odds, I actually feel slightly better after hanging up. Helena is clearly a sorceress, and I’m thanking my lucky stars that I have her on my side. I put down the phone andstart cleaning up the spilled wine and broken glass. As I do so, I think about my task. Convincing Ben to admit to everyone that he’s been cheating on me? It’s going to be a tough one, but I’m sure that when I explain to him what’s at stake—my freedom—he’ll do it for me.

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