Page 7 of Dangerous Secret

“Would it be easier if I just asked you questions I need answers to?”

“Yes, I think it would be.”

“How long were you married?”

“Six and a half years. Six years longer than I wanted to be.” She kicked at the water as if she were angry at it.

“I assume you stayed because of your son?”

“Yes. I found out I was pregnant when we’d been married for six months. I was going to leave him and file for divorce, but that changed everything.” She sighed. “The thing I want you to understand is that I loved my husband. Well, I loved the man he pretended to be when we were dating and for the first month of our marriage. He was all that a woman wanted in a man. Kind, thoughtful, loving. Then a few weeks after our wedding, the real Anthony began to make an appearance. Suddenly, I couldn’t do anything right. I dressed to entice other men’s attention. I said stupid things that embarrassed him. I wasn’t attentive enough to him. It started as mild criticisms disguised as loving suggestions on how I could be a better wife. He had a way of making me believe I was in the wrong and I’d apologize. Over and over.”

“And you tried to be that better wife, I’m guessing.”

“I tried so hard, but in doing so, I lost me.”

One of his cousins had been involved with a man who’d been controlling and mentally abusive. He’d watched the light fade in Leah Ann’s eyes during the year she’d been with the asshole. Fortunately, she wised up before marrying the man. He’d never understood why she stayed as long as she had, and he’d asked her that very question after she left him.

“You have to understand,” she’d said. “With a master manipulator like that, it starts with little things. And youthink, I love him, and I want to please him, so you try to be what he wants. As the digs and criticisms grow harsher, you begin to believe that he’s right, that you’re the problem, so you try even harder. Somewhere in there, you lose yourself, which was his goal all along. You can’t leave him because he has you believing that you’re not strong enough to make it on your own.”

“But you did, and I thank God for it. Did you just wake up one day and realize you couldn’t go on like that anymore?” he asked.

“Pretty much. One morning, I looked in the mirror and wondered who that sad, beaten-down woman looking back at me was. That was the moment I knew I had to leave. Honestly, it would have been easier, and I would have left sooner if he’d physically abused me. I never would have put up with that. But his mental abuse was subtle, and men like that have the ability to make you believe it’s you, not them.”

Grayson thought about that conversation with his cousin before asking Harlow his next question. “What finally motivated you to leave him?”

“The day I walked in on him kissing Tyler’s nanny. Tyler was sitting on the floor at their feet, playing with his toys while they were sucking face. I fired her on the spot, and they looked at each other and laughed. He said, ‘This is what happens when my wife is a cold fish.’ He was right about the cold fish part. By that time in our marriage, I couldn’t stand for him to touch me.”

“Good God.” The man wasn’t just a manipulator, he was downright cruel. “Whether you were or weren’t, there is no excuse for him to carry on an affair in your home, and especially no excuse for kissing another woman in front of his son. Or kissing another woman anywhere while he’s married. Tell me that’s when you left.”

“Not that minute. I waited until he left that night to go see his mistress.” She chuckled, but it sounded off, like a sarcastic chuckle. “Yeah, he’s had several mistresses over the years. After he left to go see her, I packed up some things for myself and Tyler. I checked us into a hotel. The next day, I saw a lawyer to file for divorce.”

“How did your ex-husband come to have full custody?”

“Because his family owns the town.”

“Explain.”

“The judge, the police chief, literally anyone Anthony can use to his benefit is in his back pocket.”

If that was true, things were going to get interesting. “I have to ask. Is it so bad that your ex has custody? You get visitation, right?” Just because Pressley was a bad husband didn’t mean he was a bad father.

“Anthony couldn’t care less about Tyler at the age he is now. He never spends time with him. The only reason he hired a nanny was because he didn’t like me giving attention to Tyler and not him. He sees Tyler as a nuisance until he’s old enough to begin his training as the heir. He’ll teach our son to be just like him, and I can’t allow that.” She lifted pleading eyes to his. “I just can’t. Please help me.”

As much as he wanted to promise he would, he couldn’t. Not yet. “That’s all the questions I have for now. Before I can agree to take this further, I have to do some background research.” She was emotionally exhausted. He had more questions, but they could wait.

“But you’ll help me?”

“If everything you’ve told me checks out, yes. You should know that I’ll not only investigate your ex and the Pressley family, I’ll look into you, too.”

“Okay. I have nothing to hide.”

He hoped not. “If you can without being obvious, record your conversations with him.”

“That’s a good idea.”

“I have them occasionally.” He smiled, and as he’d intended, she smiled back.

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