Page 97 of The Vow We Made
We sit for a few minutes and I’m safe in his arms, knowing he’ll never let anything bad happen to me. I’m also aware how much my story is eating away at him, but there is nothing he can do about that.
“My world was crushed after the accident, but things went from bad to worse. Losing Andy nearly broke me. Our last conversation together left me devastated and I struggled through each day with such a heavy conscience. I’d scold myself for pushing him into a marriage he didn’t want. He was so desperate and unhappy with his choice to marry me, he was willing to end his life and take mine in the process.”
Aiden rubs his palm reassuringly over my thighs. “Fuck. Angel, I’m so sorry you had to go through that. Just remember this was all Andy’s doing. You’re the innocent party here.” My sad eyes lock with his and his concerned smile warms my heart. “And Eve? How did you find out about her?” he asks, obviously confused about where she fits in.
“Poor Evelynn was hundreds of miles away and blissfully unaware of the nightmare she was about to unravel, but when she did piece it all together she flew over to London straight away. She arrived at my house one afternoon, claiming to represent Andy’s employers who wanted to extend the company’s condolences. There were also some of his personal belongings from his lodgings in Dubai. I let her in without a second thought because the first thing she presented me with was Andy’s identity badge. I had no reason to disbelieve her.
“She’d brought with her a small box containing various items, claiming they were his, but I didn’t recognise any of them. There was this expensive looking Rolex watch instead of the Citizen brown leather strapped version I’d given him for his birthday and I didn’t remember the cufflinks as being his at all. But it was the wedding ring confusing me the most. I thought there must have been some kind of mix up in transit yet she insisted the platinum ring in her possession belonged to Andy. I knew she was wrong because I’d given Andy a gold band, which was on his finger when he died and was still on his hand the day I went to visit him in the in the chapel of rest. While I explained how these items were definitely not my husbands, Evelynn broke down. I naively thought she must have worked closely with him and was overcome with emotion, but as she began to explain, it was clear she wasn’t a work colleague at all. I expected the same as you; that she was going to tell me she’d been having an affair and how they were in love. Part of me wondered if Andy was trying to tell me the same thing when he died.
“Her body language gave me signals of undeniable grief; she sobbed every time either one of us mentioned his name and her tears were uncontrollable and never ending, but there was something else as well. I felt hate in the atmosphere and I couldn’t put my finger on why. Never in a million years would I guess what this person was to the man I loved, and to my utter devastation, the explanation she gave, had me reeling beyond all comprehension. The woman standing in front of me was Andy’s wife. Not hisex-wife, but hiscurrentwife. The divorce had never happened and the papers he used to get our marriage certificate were forged. As far as Evelynn was concerned, they had a happy marriage.
“The items in her possession, were from his other life. A whole two years before I knew he even existed, they’d dated and married after a whirlwind two-month romance. She’d met him initially during a work conference he’d attended at her hotel and I’m not talking about one she worked or stayed in. Sheownedit as she does several others and as much as I hate to think about this, I’m sure Andy saw dollar signs the day he met her.
“To cut this very long story short, she found out Andy was dead after contacting the police in London. He called her every single day they were apart, and when the phone calls stopped and he didn’t return home she knew something was very wrong. The last phone call she received was on our wedding day.”
“Apparently, she’d been here three weeks before she came to my door, but with the help of the police, a private investigator and some information found in a safety deposit box in a London bank, she’d eventually found out the truth.”
“Jesus,” Aiden whispers.
“Sadly, that’s not all. We pieced so many of his lies together. Evelynn told me that as soon as they were married, he left his job as an estate agent and went to work with her running their hotels and rental properties around the globe. When he met me two years later, it was easy for him to divide his time between us. I was under the impression he was working hard for our future when, the whole time, he was living the high life with his other wife.”
I feel Aiden move so I sit up a little. He shakes his head, takes in a breath and releases a sigh as he exhales. “Was there ever a time when you were suspicious?”
“Never. He had an answer for everything, like the time I suggested I should go to Dubai for a holiday but he said it made him nervous and didn’t want to run the risk of something happening in a country where dress codes and customs were strict for women. The excuse he gave Evelynn were entirely different.
“Apparently, he didn’t expect her to join him in London as it held so many painful memories after the death of his parents and because of it, he no longer wanted to live here permanently. She was shocked when I assured her, his parents were very much alive and well. I had no clue as to why he lied about them, but Andy always did have a driving ambition I didn’t quite understand. He’d do anything to get ahead including living in a dream world where only he existed and achieved whatever he damn well chose. Everything about Andy, and our life together, was a lie. All the times I felt guilty about him working hard, he was living a very comfortable life. Both Evelynn and I had essentially been spun the same story except in reverse. Even the home I’d worked so hard for was part of the pretence. You see, there was a reason he wanted to buy it outright, apart from the fact he had the ready cash. The house belonged to Evelynn from the start. It was part of their London property portfolio and my money was the supposed rent from the imaginary tenant he’d created. He was so damn clever and he had us all fooled.”
“Fucking bastard.” Aiden’s anger flares from his mouth, but I find it strangely comforting.
“He cheated on me and Evelynn in more ways than we realised and I wonder what would have happened if Andy had survived the accident.”
He breaks our embrace and places his hands on either side of my face. “You don’t ever have to worry about him again, he’s gone and I’ll do whatever it takes to help you forget him, angel. You’ll never be hurt in that way again, not while I’m around to protect you.”
I place my hand over his, then bring my mouth to kiss the inside of his palm. He means every word which is why I’m so sure I can trust him with my life.
“Aiden, the only other people who know about this are my parents, Steph and maybe by now, Luke. If those two are having a child together, Evelynn will have to tell him, and yes, I know about the baby. Evelynn told me tonight.”
“They must have decided to keep it,” he mutters.
“What was that?”
“Nothing. Another time.”
I nod, letting it go, focusing on my agreement with my friend. “The thing is, Evelynn and I made a pact. We agreed it would stay between us and we’d keep in touch to help the other through the hard times. It was the best thing we ever did. Somehow, we built a friendship out of the ashes of our sham marriages and got rid of a lot of anger. I eventually told my parents and Steph, because I felt I had to make them understand why the grieving had stopped.”
Aiden pulls away, moving me from his lap as he stands and walks to the window with his hands in his pockets. He glares across the view of the green, his chest visibly rises then falls and the tick to his jaw is almost out of control. “His memory doesn’t deserve any respect. He’s a fucking bigamist Victoria and he tried tokillyou. I can’t understand why you wanted to protect him.” Aiden turns away from the window and looks to me. His eyes narrow, almost squinting while his head shakes. “Why the hell didn’t you sue the arse off his estate and expose him for the liar he was?”
“He was a bigamist for less than an hour, Aiden and I don’t see any good from publicly prosecuting an estate that wasn’t his in the first place.”
“It’s a matter of principle and self-respect. He didn’t deserve you.”
“Aiden please, think about it. The one person who should have been punished, who caused all the heartache, was gone and it didn’t enter my head to drag it through the courts. I already had so much to cope with when I learned the life I’d built with this imposter was a lie. Plus there was Andy’s parents to consider. If they knew their son lived a double life and to be blunt, was ashamed to share them with his American wife, they’d be devastated. We couldn’t deepen their wounds any further after losing their son. It’s wasn’t fair and they’d been through enough. We all had.”
“It’s unjust,” Aiden growls.
“The whole situation was wrong Aiden and who knows, maybe if he’d lived, he would have got his comeuppance. The arrangement Evelynn and I made was not only right for us, but also our families. It wasn’t just an awful situation for me, but poor Evelynn has roots which stem from a rich and powerful family in New York. They didn’t approve of the marriage from the beginning, so if they’d found out what had really happened, it would only cause her further heartache. This way, she avoided any grief from them and her reputation stayed intact. She didn’t need a press scandal on top of everything else. For her, the whole situation might have blown up in her face, so it was better this way.”
“That doesn’t excuse the trail of destruction he left behind.”
