Chapter 3
The second I walked in, I smelled a rich, familiar aroma.
Braised ribs.
I followed the scent to the kitchen and froze.
Brenda was standing over the stove cooking. Molly was nearby, holding the baby and teasing him while Brenda turned around every few seconds to make faces at him and laugh.
It was such a warm, happy domestic scene that it almost felt unreal.
In all the years since Lily had been born, Brenda had never once looked at my daughter that lovingly.
I lowered my head, forced down the storm inside me, and walked in with the casual swagger I’d observed in Wyatt.
“Smells amazing,” I said. “Mom, your cooking’s still unbeatable.”
Molly turned around with the baby in her arms and walked over, clearly expecting me to take him. I immediately stepped back and used the excuse that I was coming down with something.
She pouted.
“Husband, when are you going to get that bitch’s house for my Kieran?”
I suppressed the urge to smash her face into the wall.
“Still working on it,” I replied. “If you want her to have an ‘accident,’ that kind of thing takes planning. Be patient.”
Molly wrapped herself around my arm, whining, “I don’t care. This year, you have to get that house. Kieran deserves it.”
I gave her a vague smile and looked around the place.
The entire home had been renovated at great expense.
The nursery furniture was all imported.
The bed was piled high with plush toys just like the ones Lily loved but never got.
Inside the closet were rows of designer bags, shoes, and dresses from luxury brands I hadn’t touched since becoming a full-time mother.
The vanity table was crowded with expensive skincare, perfumes, and makeup.
Meanwhile, I had been using the same nearly-empty bottle of perfume for a year and a half because Wyatt told me his salary had been cut and we needed to save money.
Not a salary cut.
A transfer.
He had just transferred the money to this side of his life.
At dinner, Brenda set down the braised ribs and cooed over Kieran the entire time.
She even said, “Not just that house. The house at Bluewater Gardens will be Kieran’s someday too.”
I nearly dropped my chopsticks.
As far as I knew, Brenda only had an old run-down house in the countryside.
Bluewater Gardens was one of the most expensive gated communities in the city.
Brenda patted my shoulder and lowered her voice.
“Son, tell me honestly. If your ex-wife finds out you already bought a house and used a loan to transfer it into my name, do you think her parents will demand repayment? After all, you borrowed quite a bit from them.”
My hand went rigid around the chopsticks.
So that was another lie.
Wyatt had been telling me for months that he was being careful and taking his time before buying a new property.
In reality, he had already bought one and put it in Brenda’s name.
And he’d used money borrowed from my father to do it.
Brenda kept muttering, completely unbothered.
“I’m not being cruel. But think about it. If Laura stays alive and figures all this out, the house in her name will go to Lily and she’ll make a huge scene about this one too. Your precious Molly and my precious grandson deserve security. Laura has to go. Once she’s gone, little Lily will be easy enough to control.”
I gripped the chopsticks so hard my fingers hurt.
I told myself not to show anything.
If I lost control now, I’d ruin everything.
So I sat there chewing the ribs while my mind raced.
Molly’s house was still in Wyatt’s name.
And right now, I was the one in Wyatt’s body.
That meant, very simply, that house belonged to me to deal with however I wanted.
Brenda’s house would be harder to reclaim.
But Molly’s house, and everything Wyatt had hidden there, I would take back.
That much was non-negotiable.
Brenda glanced at me. “What, you can’t bear to do it? But we don’t have a choice. If Laura finds out, we won’t be able to keep any of this.”
I picked up a very fatty rib and dropped it into her bowl.
“I understand, Mom.”
She beamed.
“I knew my son was smart.”
Then she added, “And by the way, the money for the Bluewater Gardens house came from Laura’s father. Great trick, right? I taught you that one. Cry a little in front of him, talk about a man’s pride, say you can’t let Laura know your salary dropped, and that you’d rather borrow than lose face. That old fool really bought it. At this rate, you probably squeezed out all his retirement money too.”
My hands started shaking again.
Molly burst out laughing and added, “No wonder Lily wets herself at preschool the second I scold her. Maybe she inherited the stupid gene from her mother’s side.”
I took a slow, deep breath.
It took every ounce of self-control I had not to flip the table over.
The last faint voice inside me whispering about kindness finally went silent.
Because at some point, refusing to punish evil stops being kindness and starts becoming complicity.
So I smiled at Brenda, added another rib to her bowl, and said sweetly, “Eat more, Mom.”
She happily did.
When she complained about how much more comfortable it was living with Molly than living with me, I poured her a large glass of Coke and stirred in extra sugar.
Then, when she finished that, I poured her another one and added salt too.
She had severe diabetes and chronic high blood pressure.
For years, I’d studied nutrition and basic health management to help her control it. I monitored her meals, got her walking every day, and even managed to help her lose weight.
Her numbers had stabilized while she lived under my care.
Now I watched her drain another sugary, salty glass, and I smiled.
After dinner, Molly tried to pull me into the bedroom.
She was already lying on the bed, beckoning me over.
“Husband, come here.”
The thought of all the nights Wyatt claimed he was working late while he rolled around in that room, in the house my parents helped buy, made nausea crawl up my throat.
I turned around and said I had to go back to the office for overtime.
Then I left.
When I got home, Lily was sitting alone in the living room, quietly building with Legos.
Wyatt, in my body, was pacing anxiously like a trapped animal.
The second he saw me, he rushed over for the phone.
His eyes searched my face.
“Nothing happened today, right, honey?”
Even wearing my face, his expression hadn’t changed. It was still the same calculating, fearful look I knew too well.
The man who had once been closest to me had become my enemy in a single day.
I forced a tired smile.
“Nothing. Work was exhausting. I didn’t even have time to check your phone much.”
He visibly relaxed and shoved my phone toward me.
“Let’s switch back. I can’t get used to yours.”
“What about your clients?” I asked.
“We’ll deal with it if they call,” he said quickly.
I shrugged and handed his phone back.
He didn’t know that while I had it, I’d already used his ID to register a new SIM card, transferred all of his banking alerts to that number, and created a brand-new hidden account.
As for Molly, I’d told her the old burner account had probably been exposed and that I would contact her through a new one from now on. I also warned her that if the old account ever messaged her, it was probably me impersonating Wyatt.
Now she trusted only the new account.
And that new account belonged to me.
I watched Wyatt hurry into the bathroom clutching his phone.
Only then did I finally understand why over the past year he had become mysteriously constipated and started spending so much time locked in there.
I let out a cold laugh, then took Lily to wash up and get ready for bed.
Only then did I learn she hadn’t eaten dinner at all.
So I ordered her fried chicken.
Watching her eat ravenously with her small head bent over the box made my heart ache so badly I thought it might split.
Sooner or later, I would settle all of this with Wyatt.