Chapter 2

02

After the disastrous anniversary party, I went home alone. Waylon didn't follow. I knew he was probably off comforting his long-lost son, Jaxson.

The next day, Jaxson showed up at my door. He didn't just bring a DNA test; he brought a gift deed Waylon had secretly signed.

The luxury suburban house worth three million dollars had been transferred to Jaxson's name six months ago.

"Auntie Pearl," Jaxson said with a fake, innocent smile. He toyed with a set of expensive car keys. "I'm getting married soon. My mom said I can't let my bride live in a dump."

The "mom" he mentioned was Bianca, Waylon's first love. I knew that name. Waylon used to talk about her as his great regret.

Years ago, Bianca dumped him because he was poor and married a rich businessman. Last year, that man died, and she came crawling back with her son.

Lately, Waylon had been sighing in front of me, saying how hard it was for Bianca to raise a kid alone. He said Jaxson was so pitiful for growing up without a father. Now I realize he was just laying the groundwork for today.

"Pearl, just think of it as a good deed," Waylon said later, gripping my hand until his knuckles turned white. "We don't have kids anyway. The money is just sitting there."

I pulled my hand away, looking at the grey hair at his temples. I felt a chill deep in my bones. "Waylon, do you remember why we decided not to have kids?"

When we were young, he said he was afraid we couldn't afford them. He didn't want our quality of life to drop.

We were dirt poor back then, so I believed him.

Once the business took off and life got easy, he said he was too busy with work and didn't want to miss out on time with me. I believed that, too.

For forty years, he reported his every move during business trips. He said goodnight to me every single evening. I thought that was true devotion.

But last week, I found two receipts for a spa resort in his suit pocket. The dates matched the days he was supposedly "scouting locations" in the next state. The services listed were definitely not for business.

All that warmth and affection was nothing but a carefully woven web of lies.

His check-ins were fake. His goodnight calls were a script. His kindness might have been a calculated move from the very start.