Page 81 of Ripple Effect
He betrayed me, but what’s scarier is I never knew it. For however long, I lay beside him, loving him with my entire soul, and he may have been thinking about someone else.
Just the thought sends me racing for the bathroom attached to my office so I can retch into the toilet. It isn’t the first time I’ve felt this way since I realized our forever was his for right now.
I can’t see him.
I can’t listen to him.
I won’t be lied to by him again.
The only way I can get through this it is to ensure all communication is through our attorneys.
With that decision, I rinse my mouth out with mouthwash before getting a glimpse at the pale, sallow version of myself in the mirror. With a disgusted sigh, I close off the lights on more than just my reflection.
I turn them off to my soul.
55
Elizabeth
Year Six - Five Years Ago from Present Day
“Libby,” I hear Iris call out to me. I ignore her. Much as I have the same way every time she, or her husband, has tried to call me or speak to me in the last week since they all returned from their little getaway. I have nothing to say to the woman who’s been having an affair with my husband—well, my soon-to-be ex-husband.
I’ve never asked my family to use my Nonna’s money, not to start up my business, not for my wedding, not for a single damn thing. But when I went to them and told them about Cal and Iris, I didn’t have to. Mom, Dad, Josh, many of my cousins including Krysta—which surprised the hell out of me but shouldn’t in light of the fact she’s trying to divorce Kyle—all volunteered to go with me to the board of trustees to release some of my trust for lawyers.
Everyone, that is, except Sam.
He refuses to believe his wife and his best friend are having an affair. He refuses to listen to reason when my parents called him to have a family meeting. Even when he found out my lawyers shoved a subpoena at Alliance and demanded the travel records for Iris Cunningham Akin and Calhoun Sullivan. He’s been adamant about trying to reach me to convince me I’m the one who’s wrong. And despite my refusal to listen, he’s remained nothing but persistent and determined to show everyone, including our family, he stands behind his wife. So far as I know, he’s still living with her even though his parents are threatening to go to court to sue for full custody of Rachel since she spends more time with her grandparents than she does her biological parents.
I know the feeling. When I looked back on my computer the other night, I realized that Cal and I actually spent only 40 percent of our married life in the same state. If you count work hours, that number drops even lower.
Sam won’t listen to me. His only agenda is to convince me “…what you saw wasn’t what it was. Please, Libby, stop being so stubborn and talk with Cal. For all our sakes.”
“For all your sakes? You have a stake in this, Sam? Beyond the fact your wife was kissing my husband?” I yelled. Before he could answer, I did. “No. You’re supposed to be my family, my protector, someone who loves me unconditionally.”
“That’s supposed to be your husband,” he countered.
“Well, look how well that turned out. He ended up with your wife. Must be a side effect of loving me,” I drawled sarcastically, before I hit End to the call.
I haven’t spoken to my cousin since. I certainly haven’t spoke to the woman who was involved in the triangle that ended my marriage.
But until I hear her calling at me wildly across Harris Teeter, it didn’t dawn on me how much I lost. My heartache hasn’t abated because it wasn’t just one part that was damaged; it was all of it. I didn’t just lose my husband on the day I walked in on him and Iris; I also lost the woman I believed to be the sister of my heart, my best friend since college. And then there’s Sam—a man I’d been raised with since I was a child, someone I was closer to than my own brother.
My hands grip the top of the shopping cart as she races up to me breathlessly. “Can we talk?”
Ignoring her, I reach for a plastic bag. Gala apples are on sale. Cal loves…damn. I throw them down and push my cart ahead until I reach the strawberries I know the bastard detests because the seeds get caught in between his perfect teeth.
A whimper of a sound is emitted behind me.
I ignore it.
An amused voice I don’t recognize says my name. “Libby, is that you?” My head swivels quickly before my lips twitch into a fond smile.
“Murphy,” I say warmly. I hold out both hands, which he accepts. He leans down to brush his lips against my cheek. “It’s been longer than forever.”
“Since Nonna’s funeral,” he agrees.
“How have you been?” we both say simultaneously. And then we laugh.
