Nine Years of Lies

Thanksgiving weekend was finally here, and my attorney husband had finally agreed to take the family on a trip.

But right as we were about to board, Derek still hadn't shown up ！ him or Lily. Just a text.

[Legal heavyweight Nathan Rhodes is meeting with our firm about a partnership. Bringing Lily along. Go enjoy yourself.]

Then a voice message from Lily, bright and breathless:

"Mom, he's like my absolute idol! I really want to go!"

Looking at the two of them, so sincere and united, I said one word. Fine. Then I called my childhood best friend to come pick me up.

The second I saw Nathan, I smiled.

"Shouldn't you be sitting across from my husband right now?"

Nathan stared at me, completely lost. I shook my head, said nothing, and pulled open the passenger door.

"Draw up a divorce agreement for me later. But first ！ we're catching my husband in the act. He's having an affair."

Nathan didn't ask twice. He floored it straight to Derek's firm.

The place was locked up. Dark. Not a soul inside.

A clerk from the convenience store next door leaned out:

"Looking for someone, ma'am? It's Mr. Gould's anniversary today ！ he rented out the entire Hartley Estate. Everyone from the firm is there celebrating."

Nathan glanced at me, one brow raised.

"Looks like you've got it wrong. Derek's planning a surprise for you."

Looking at Nathan's teasing expression, I couldn't even manage a smile. "Today is not our anniversary."

His expression froze.

My fist tightened. "Hartley Estate. Now."

We pulled up to the gate. I pushed the car door open and made it two steps before security moved to block us.

I stared through the lit windows at the silhouettes shifting inside the ballroom. My fist tightened further.

"I need to find someone in there."

One of the guards let out a short, contemptuous laugh.

"Got an invitation? No? Then get lost. Tonight is attorney Derek Gould and Miss Lara Sutton of Hartwell Group's anniversary. Don't come here starting trouble."

"Hartwell Group?" Nathan turned slightly, lowering his voice, something caught in his tone. "Isn't that also！"

Lara Sutton. The name snagged. I'd heard it before ！ Derek mentioned her constantly. Called her his buddy.

I didn't bother arguing with them. I reached back into the car and pulled out the Hartley Estate membership card.

The second they saw it, all three of them straightened up. They stepped aside without a word, eyes trailing us as we walked through.

I pushed open the ballroom doors. It was loud inside. Crowded.

I spotted them immediately. Lara bent forward with one hand braced on the table, Derek standing close behind her, a balloon trapped between them.

The crowd was pounding the tables, egging them on.

"Didn't Lara just say Derek's favorite position is from behind? So the dare is ！ pop the balloon between them, no hands. Go!"

Derek had always been so proper. In all our years of marriage, we'd barely been intimate ！ and every time I brought it up, he told me I was being inappropriate.

I was sure he'd be furious.

Instead, he reached forward, placed his hands on Lara's hips, and guided her into a bend.

Lara trapped the balloon between their bodies. Derek pressed himself flush against her, and the balloon buckled and warped under the pressure.

The room got louder. Whistles cut through the air. Phones went up, recording everything.

Something snapped in me completely.

I shoved through the crowd and drove my foot into Lara hard. She went down with a sharp cry.

Derek didn't even look to see who it was. He was already crouching to pull her up, face twisted with fury as he raised his eyes ！

And then he saw me.

He went still.

"How are you back?"

Over in the corner, Lily had been playing with other kids. The moment the commotion started, she quietly slipped behind Lara.

I stared at Derek's hand still holding Lara's arm.

"An anniversary," I said, my voice cold. "With another woman. Derek, what exactly do you think I am?"

The room went dead silent.

People exchanged glances. Someone whispered: "Wait ！ who's the other woman here?"

Another: "Gould's really out here like this?"

The murmurs rippled through the room, and something shifted uncomfortably across Derek's face.

Lara looked up at Derek like the whole world had just wronged her.

"Derek..."

He seemed to make a decision. He looked at me and his voice went hard:

"Are you done? I've told you ！ we're over. Stop showing up and making scenes."

I stared at him. "When did we end?"

"Stop playing dumb!" His voice cracked upward.

"You're the one who said it was over! I have a wife now, a family ！ why won't you leave me alone?"

I pointed at Lara. Then at myself. A laugh rose in my chest ！ the kind that isn't funny.

"Derek. Look at my face. Tell me who I am. Tell me who Lily's mother is."

Nathan stepped forward. "You've got this wrong ！ Chloe is still your wife！"

"Who the hell are you?" Derek cut him off.

"This is between me and Chloe Quinn. Stay out of it."

He turned back to me, impatient.

"Chloe, I'm telling you ！ walk away. Don't embarrass yourself. My wife Lara is Nathan Rhodes' own prot└g└e and the daughter of Hartwell Group. You cannot touch her."

Nathan went very still.

I looked at him. He looked at me. He shook his head slowly.

The whispers sharpened around us. Eyes shifted toward me with something ugly in them.

"So she's the ex who won't let go..."

"She seemed so puttogether. How does someone have that little selfrespect?"

"Poor guy. Having to deal with someone like her still chasing after him..."

Lara moved in at exactly the right moment, draping an arm around Derek's shoulder, positioning herself between us like she was shielding him.

"Lady, Derek has already told you. He wants nothing to do with you."

She turned to the room, her voice dropping into something soft and aggrieved.

"The past is the past. Derek and I have a child, a home. Please stop disrupting what we have."

I stared at the two of them, rage burning straight through me. I closed the distance in one step and slapped her across the face.

The crack rang through the entire ballroom. Every person in the room went rigid.

Lara pressed her hand to her cheek and turned to Derek, her eyes filling on cue.

"Derek!"

Derek's face changed instantly. "Hold her down!"

Two guards in black suits exploded from the corners of the ballroom, seizing me by both arms and forcing me to the ground.

My knees cracked against the hard marble floor and I hissed through my teeth at the impact.

"Have you lost your mind?" I thrashed against their grip, screaming up at him. "I am your wife! You're doing this for her?"

Derek said nothing. His eyes had gone red.

He turned, grabbed a wooden chair from the nearest table, raised it above his head, and brought it down across my back with everything he had.

The pain tore a muffled cry from my throat. My back blazed.

He wasn't done. He stepped forward and drove his dress shoe into my side ！ once, again, again.

Nathan fought his way through and lunged to intervene. Another guard slammed him to the ground before he could reach me.

"Derek Gould, stop it! She is your wife!" Nathan's voice tore from the floor.

Derek kicked harder.

Then I coughed, and tasted blood ！ and caught a flash of movement as Lily came sprinting through the crowd toward me.

"Don't you dare hurt my mom!"