Page 46 of Secrets, Lies and Love

Then I remember Keith and our conversations. How much he seemed in love, enchanted by the “good girl” he had met in the college cafeteria.

When they met, he was already rich but few knew about it. In fact, only his closest friends and family.

I remember it as if it were today—when he called me to tell me he was in love and was getting married. He couldn’t praise her enough. Keith painted her as a saint: loving and sweet.

I had already left home. I lived alone, and he helped me with my first steps. He rented an apartment for me—which I reimbursed him for in full as soon as I was able. I got a job and freed myself from Jodelle’s clutches once and for all.

I was about to move to California, where he was born and raised, because that’s what we implicitly agreed on: that at some point, we would be together there. Everything changed when Sue entered the equation.

Even though neither of us longed for a romantic relationship with each other, I adored him and wanted to be where he was. There was no physical attraction. Still, living with him, or close by, at least, was my idea of heaven, because Keith had become my go-to when it came to love since my father passed away.

I was dying to meet the woman who’d stolen my friend’s heart, but every time I suggested a meeting, he made an excuse, until he finally confessed to me that he’d told Sue about me and she’d gotten jealous.

I understood what he didn’t say: there wouldn’t be anusanymore. The friendship was suspended, and contact would only occur sporadically and from a distance.

I was sad because I wasn’t even invited to the wedding, but the love and affection I felt for him was so great that his happiness was mine too.

I wished him good luck and moved on.

Phone calls became rare, text messages too. I learned to be alone, as always.

Months passed, and I assumed, correctly, that he was already married. I hoped that the next time we spoke, it would be like before and that his wife would understand that there was nothing to fear. We were just friends.

However, when he made contact again, five months after getting married, he reminded me very little of the boy I’d known.

I will never forget his face on that video call we had after months without any news. Initially, I was scared just by the fact that he was looking for me. I forgot about the hurt that Keith had put me aside so easily as soon as I saw his downcast, upset, face.

He was different—sad and a little paranoid.

He told me that Sue was not who he’d thought she was, that she was selfish and cruel.

I didn’t know what to say. I thought it was a couple’s fight and that everything would be fine. That’s not what happened. During the next phone call, he told me that she was pregnant and that he feared for his life.

That was a warning sign in neon letters. Keith was the most gullible person I knew. To him, everyone was good, so reaching the point where he suspected that his own wife could harm him, using violence, showed me that his fear was very real.

We agreed to stay in touch until we could see each other. I begged him to let me come find him, but at that point, he was worried about me too.

I started to get scared. Who was this woman?

One day, he called me, and his voice was that of someone who was no longer in control of his emotions.

Keith gave me step-by-step instructions in case something happened to him. He made me swear that I would look after his unborn son, that I would protect him from the one he called a monster.

I asked him to leave the house, but he told me he couldn’t. He was afraid that, to punish him, Sue would harm the baby.

We talked for hours, trying to find a solution. There wasn’t one, not until the child was born. While Sue was pregnant, my friend was her hostage.

The following week, I tried to get in touch. His phone went to voicemail. I sent an email and despaired when the days passed without news, until I decided to search his name on the internet.

I will never forget when I found out about his death. I didn’t believe for a second that it was accidental.

She’d done it, and I swore I would make her pay.

Keith had no one else to give him justice. His grandmother had died a long time ago. He needed me like I’d once needed him.

I gathered the last of my savings and went to San Jose, in California. I was naïve, I had never left Kansas, and I didn’t even know where to start searching for Sue.

With my limited resources, I wasted precious months until I discovered that she was living in New York and that she had married a powerful Greek. I saw a photo of the two of them in the newspaper, with Joseph in her arms. Based on the baby’s age, as reported in the news, I knew it was my friend’s son.

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