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But amidst the chaos, one thing remains clear—I need to get to the bottom of what’s happening to me, and fast.
Just as I fall away from the toilet and begin to catch my breath, my phone buzzes in my pocket, the sound cutting through the stillness of the room like a knife. With trembling hands, I fish it out and glance at my screen.
I received a message from an unknown number. I opened it, and I was greeted with a link. I clicked it open, and the first thing I saw made my heart skip a beat.
Fatal Influence: The CEO’s Wife’s Shocking End by Miles Goldberg
Chapter twenty-two
Tristan
“Ishould have punched his lights out.” I shake my head as I rest my hand on the large wooden desk in my study.
“Tristan—”
“I should have knocked his fucking teeth out!” I slap a book off the table in a rage, and Layla jolts back from shock.
Last night, after I left the bar, I came home and went straight to the basement to fetch the whiskey Layla had gifted me. I brought it back to the study and stared at it on the table until I left the study for my room. Sleep didn’t come easily, so I’d just laid in the dark, thinking about everything.
Now, Layla is telling me Miles came around to her house and threatened her.
“That bastard,” I seethe, my chest heaving in his white shirt. My hair falls across my face in messy locks as I turn to face Layla, who looks so pale that my anger disappears. “What business does he have with you?” I try to sound calm.
Layla taps her foot in the gladiator sandals against the wooden floor, her hands next to hanging herself. “He was asking about you, about… Deanna.”
“What did you tell him?” My voice is barely above a whisper.
What exactly can she tell him? She knows nothing. All the same, I can’t help the cloud of suspicion that settles on me.
“Nothing!” Layla's hands twist against her black sundress, which has a deep cut in the neckline. “I… I didn’t tell him anything,” she admits, her voice trembling. But he knows about us. He knows about our arrangement.”
I watch her for a moment, trying to decide if I can trust her. Her gaze drops to the table, and I know she’s looking at the unopened whiskey and the glass beside it. Her eyes flicker back to mine, and I try and fail to get the frown over my face.
The afternoon sun streams into the room from the window on the side. Rows of unread books on the shelves lay quietly watching us. Layla takes a step closer to me; the swell of her breasts in her gown catches my gaze for a second.
“Tristan.” Her voice breaks the silence. “Tell me about Deanna.”
Layla’s hair blows into her face as she removes the black and white strands with a finger. I notice a deep sadness in her expression as she stands and waits for me to speak. I sit against the desk, my feet not leaving the ground.
“You read the article.” I nod. “Right?”
“An unknown number sent me the link,” she explains, remorse in her eyes. “So, yeah, I read it. They made some claims that—”
“It’s not something I like to talk about.” I swallow hard, the lump in my throat threatening to choke me.
“But I deserve to know, Tristan.” Layla takes a quiet step closer. “I’m a part of this now whether we like it or not.”
I grab the decanter and open it. The satisfying smell of the whiskey hits my nose, and I close my eyes for a second. When I open them, Layla is watching me with concern in her eyes. I pour the golden-brown drink into the glass and set the bottle down.
“Tristan, what are you—”
“I fell out of love with her,” I say the words out loud for the first time in my life.
Layla stops talking and watches me. The pain in her eyes surprises me, but I continue speaking. “I failed her, Layla.” I shake my head and smile without joy. “I was her world, but when I got back from the military, I was… I was different. I drank, stayed out late, and made Pixels my life. Deanna was struggling with clinical depression, and I was galivanting around New York with some fucks who had no one depending on them.”
The room’s air seems cold with sadness as I speak. “I failed her as a husband, as a father, as a human being.”
“Was it really suicide like the hit piece said? As far as I know from the news then, it was an accidental overdose.”
