“Then explain it to me, because from where I was standing, it looked a whole lot like my husband lying to my face, sneaking off to a motel with a woman who looks just like the girl he was in love with before me.” My voice wavered, but I held his gaze. “Do you have any idea what that felt like?”
“She’s not Emily,” Scott said, rubbing his forehead. “She’s he—”
“How—”
“I did my research,” I said. “Now tell me why.”
Scott let out a long breath and sat down beside me, his hands clasped together. “I ran into her a few weeks ago. It wasn’t planned, Alice. It just… happened. I was at a coffee shop, and she walked in. At first, I thought I was seeing a ghost.”
“And you didn’t think to tell me?”
“I didn’t want to upset you,” he admitted. “I didn’t want to bring up the past when we’ve built a life together. But Alice… she was in trouble.”
I folded my arms. “What kind of trouble?”
He hesitated before answering. “Her husband. He’s not a nice man. She told me she was trying to escape, but she had nowhere to go and no one to help her. She said she had to leave as soon as possible.”
A chill ran down my spine.
I wanted to scream at him, but my anger faded after listening to his story. His eyes told me he wasn’t lying, and after living with him all these years, I knew he was someone who couldn’t stand to see people in trouble.
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