Page 112 of Married to Lies

As I walked downstairs from getting Rei, my stomach felt like it had a pile of stones in it. The same feeling I had when the forensic accountant told me what Claire had done all those years ago.

At the bottom of the stairs, I saw Bryce pacing the living room while Jada sat on the couch with Twyla in her arms. She rocked the baby, speaking softly. When they saw me on the bottom step, their heads swiveled toward me.

“Tell me what happened,” I said again.

Jada looked up at me with pleading eyes. “Please give Rei a chance to tell you herself.”

“Tell me what?” I asked. When she winced, I knew it couldn’t be good. I turned to Bryce. “Did you know?”

His eyes darted toward Jada and then gave me a dark look. “Not until I saw the news. We came right over.”

Jada wouldn’t quite meet his gaze.

I was about to say to hell with it and get my phone so I could end this misery. Surely every bad possibility I was conjuring in my mind was worse than the truth.

But then I heard Rei’s footsteps coming down the stairs. My heart stutter-stepped right along with her until she reached the bottom of the stairs. Jada’s head snapped toward my wife, and she rushed to her, hugging her with the baby between them. “Your past was leaked,” Jada said. “I’m so sorry.”

Bile rose up my throat, and I swallowed it back. “What past?”

The room fell silent again, and the women turned to look at me, but neither of them spoke. Rei’s lips parted like she wanted to, but then she closed her mouth and looked at Jada again.

Jada put a hand on Rei’s shoulder. “We’ll let you talk. Bryce and I are going to wait outside in case you need us, okay?”

I looked at my friend, wondering if that was true. Bryce nodded his affirmation.

Was the truth really that bad they thought Rei would need an exit plan? I lowered myself on the couch, vision tunneling. I had to take deep breaths to clear it up.

Silently, Bryce picked up the baby carrier and walked with his wife out the front door. The latch sounded, echoing through the silent room.

“What past?” I repeated, trying to make myself calm down. Rei wasn’t Claire. If she’d messed up, I hoped we could work through it. But that would only happen if she was honest with me.

Rei spoke quickly. “Quentin, I wanted to tell you everything, but⁠—”

“What. Past?” I repeated through gritted teeth. Excuses and justifications would only hurt worse until I knew exactly what she had done.

Her robe swayed as she sat down in the chair across from me, dark hair hanging in tangles around her face. She looked down at her hands and began her story.

She told me about the friend she lost and the lessons she learned the hard way. I could see so much of myself in her—the way I used to trust people but couldn’t any longer. I felt... sorry for her. It was so at odds with the boulder pressing on my chest, waiting for something worse to come.

“Why were Bryce and Jada acting so worried?” I asked her. “Is there more?”

She nodded stiffly and told me about closing down her business, being unable to find other work. Finally, she said, “I changed my name from Andrea Kelly to Rei Li. It felt like claiming my heritage and a fresh start all wrapped in one.”

That’s when I realized. “Your mom called you Andrea. You told me she called you by the wrong name, but...”

“I lied.” The words were a bitter whisper.

And then it hit me. “You wanted me to sign the five-year contract because you were worried I’d judge you for how things went down and end the deal.”

She bit her bottom lip and nodded. “But I won’t hold you to that contract if you want out of it. I know it was unfair.”

Relief washed through me. “Rei, it’s okay. I understand the wedding happened so fast. I have a past too, things we haven’t discussed. But we’ll work through it together.” I got up to go to her, take her in my arms and comfort her. Now that I was home from the retreat and she was living with me, we had all the time in the world to share everything with each other and build something real.

But when I neared her, she shied away and said, “That’s not all.”

My stomach clenched, and my spine stiffened. “What more is there?” I asked wearily.

Wrapping her arms around her stomach, she whispered, “You’re going to hate me.”