Chapter 14
Emery was asleep. Krista was still up, waiting in the living room.
She stood up the second Terrence walked in.
Seeing his stern face, she frowned and asked, “Still no news of
Beth?”
He pressed his lips into a line and gave a quiet hum.
“Terrence, maybe call the police?”
But he wasn’t about to stir things up.
Very few people knew he had married Bethany.
And he had promised Krista that if he ever tied the knot, he
would keep his wife out of the public eye.
“Don’t worry about her. Just go to bed.”
Krista hesitated. “But-”
Terrence cut her off. “She’s not a kid. Her phone’s on, so she’s
probably fine.”
“Okay!”
Chapter 14
After Krista went off to bed, he headed into the master bedroom.
His eyes drifted to the oversized photo shot on the day they went
to city hall.
Bethany was smarter than Terrence had thought.
When he refused to have any wedding photos, she joked about
blowing up that one instead. She had actually done it.
He hadn’t meant to touch her. But she slipped into his bed and
gave him a son.
To be fair, she had always been easygoing and never made
trouble.
But this time was different, and she caught him off guard.
He was mad but couldn’t help wondering how far she planned to
take this.
Bethany had arrived in Southmount a day before him and
Emery.
After a good night’s sleep, she went out to explore.
By around 3 p.m., hours of sightseeing had worn her out, so she
headed back to the hotel.
Chapter 14
Just as she reached the entrance, she saw Terrence and Emery.
She hadn’t expected them.
Then she ducked behind a big potted plant by the entrance.
Terrence had just picked up the room key. He was holding Emery’s hand as they walked toward the elevators.
“Dad, I called Krista this morning. She said she’s staying here. If she knows we came all this way for her, she’ll be so surprised!”
“She definitely will,” Terrence said.
Bethany heard it, her hands curling into fists.
Terrence had asked for her ID to book the flight, something he had never done before. She thought it was a family trip, but it turned out to be a surprise for Krista.
Thankfully, Bethany hadn’t let herself hope.
The more one hoped, the harder they fell.
After all these years, she had learned it the hard way.
Then she heard Emery’s excited voice again.
“Krista came for the comic convention. I made her a whole comic book with paper cutouts and everything. Think she’ll like it?”
Chapter 14
Bethany’s throat tightened.
She watched them disappear into the elevator.
Comics with paper cutouts had been her idea.
Most kids were into cartoons, and since Bethany couldn’t speak,
she worried Emery would get bored. So she started making
cutouts of his favorite characters, drew stories with them, and
pasted them into little books.
He used to say her work was beautiful. After a while, he wanted
to make his own.
They did so many things together.
Emery had once promised that the first book he finished by
himself would be hers.
Only then did Bethany realize he could already do it on his own.
She stepped into the elevator, her face pale and blank.
Back in her room, fatigue crept in, and a dull ache settled in her
stomach.
She drank some water, took her meds, and lay down.
In her restless sleep, she dreamed of the fire from seven years
Chapter 14
ago.
It jolted her awake.
She frowned and grabbed her phone. It was already 7:30 p.m.
