Chapter 6 - THE PHOTOGRAPH RACHEL FOUND|
Rachel came over the next morning with a laptop and a folder.
She looked as though she hadn't slept.
“I didn't want to tell you while you were still in the hospital,” she said.
I sat on the sofa.
“Tell me now.”
She opened the laptop.
The first photograph showed Owen and Brooke standing outside a restaurant. His hand rested against her waist.
I stared at it.
“When was this taken?”
“Three weeks ago.”
The second photograph showed them entering a hotel.
The third showed Brooke wearing Owen's jacket.
I looked away.
“Maybe there's an explanation.”
Rachel's expression hardened.
“Natalie.”
I hated that she had to say my name like that.
I had spent so many years finding explanations for Owen that I no longer recognized the truth when it stood in front of me.
“Did you know?” I asked.
“I suspected something. I didn't want to believe it.”
I closed the laptop.
“Does Ethan know?”
“I don't know.”
I stood and walked toward the window.
My sister had been in my home. She had touched the nursery furniture. She had smiled while I showed her the tiny clothes I had bought for Lily.
And all that time, she had been seeing my husband.
“Why did you wait?”
Rachel's voice softened.
“Because I wanted proof. I also wanted to protect you. I thought I could talk to Owen first.”
“You talked to him?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Two days before Lily was born.”
I turned.
“What did he say?”
Rachel looked down.
“He told me he and Brooke were close, but nothing was happening. He said I was misunderstanding things.”
“And you believed him?”
“No.”
I sat down again.
“Thank you for telling me.”
Rachel reached for my hand.
“There's more.”
I looked at her.
“The night you called Owen from the hospital, I saw Brooke post a photograph. She was holding a champagne glass. The caption said, ‘Some nights change everything.’”
My stomach twisted.
“Did she delete it?”
“Yes.”
I stared at the wall.
The wedding rehearsal hadn't simply been an event Owen couldn't leave.
It had been the place where he wanted to be.
I asked Rachel to send me the photographs.
Then I called Evelyn Carter, the attorney who had handled the trust transfer for my house.
She listened carefully.
“Do not sign anything Owen brings you,” she said. “And don't move out. If the house is solely yours, there is no reason to surrender possession.”
“I want to know whether I can file for divorce.”
“Yes. We can discuss that.”
“I also want to protect the money my grandmother left me.”
“Bring me the trust documents.”
After the call, I opened the family group chat.
My mother had posted a photograph from the wedding reception.
Brooke and Ethan stood beneath a flower arch. Owen stood beside them, smiling.
The caption read:
The happiest day for our beautiful family.
I looked at the photograph until my eyes blurred.
Then I noticed something.
Owen wasn't wearing his wedding ring.
I checked the date.
It had been taken four days before Lily died.
I enlarged the image.
Brooke was wearing a necklace I recognized.
It was the necklace Owen had given me for our fifth anniversary.
I sat very still.
My phone buzzed.
May you like
A message from an unknown number.
If you want to know what really happened that night, ask Brooke why she needed Owen to stay.
