Chapter 4: Confessions on the Edge

I could ignore Ray for now, but Lillian—I was going to settle this with her.

I watched her as she wiped her eyes, her expression unreadable.

Lillian’s always been spoiled, and I usually keep my cool—I don’t stoop to her level.

But now I locked us in the room, my back against the door, staring her down.

She sat on the edge of the bed, legs tucked under her, eyes wide and frightened.

“Cheating always ends badly. Don’t test me. You’d better tell me the truth: how did you meet Ray? When did you start hooking up? How many times has it happened?”

My voice was low, cold. I could see her flinch, her hands twisting in her lap.

Maybe I was so unlike myself it scared her out of her mind. She kept apologizing, “I’m sorry, honey, I’m sorry. Please forgive me, okay?”

She reached for my hand, tears streaming down her face.

“I’ll never do anything to make you think that again.”

She looked up at me, pleading. Her words were careful, measured, leaving just enough room for doubt.

Her words were ambiguous, but I knew exactly what she meant.

It was all there in her eyes—the guilt, the shame, the desperate hope that I’d let it go.

Maybe for the past six years, while I’d been out busting my ass for money, she’d been in this apartment, sleeping with who knows how many men—Ray, Tom, Mike, Ben…

The names ran through my mind like a bad dream.

The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. I stormed into the kitchen, grabbed a butcher knife, and slammed it down on the nightstand. I wasn’t thinking about hurting her—God, I just needed to scare her into telling the truth, to feel like I had some control left.

The blade gleamed under the lamp, a silent threat.

“You’d better tell me everything, right now. Don’t make me ask twice.”

The room was so quiet I could hear her breathing, ragged and shallow.

I wasn’t sure which one of us would break first.