Page 97 of The Perfect Marriage

As I stand over her, she doesn’t look up but simply says, “Sarah.”

“May I sit?” I ask, politely this time around. She doesn’t approve but nor does she decline, so I take a seat, returning my gaze to the room beyond. “Look,” I say to her, “I know we were never the best of friends. I don’t think today changes the past or the level of interaction we have going forward. But today, know that I am here.”

Eleanor looks over at me with tears running down her cheeks, more welling up. “Okay,” is all she says.

The proceedings continue as normal and then the time comes, the final piece of the day, the syringe. Eleanor sees it, and I can see her whole body go rigid. Nothing she can do now can stop this. All the mothering or money in the world can’t save her son today, and that fact is paralyzing her.

Finally, the doctor says something to Adam, and Adam shakes his head. The doctor inserts the needle into the IV line, and Eleanor simultaneously inserts her hand into mine. As the lever depresses into the vial, she begins to squeeze my hand slowly. At first, it is quiet, like that small lapse of time after a lightning strike, waiting for the thunder to follow, and then it happens. Adam begins to convulse and scream on the table.

Eleanor wails “No! My baby boy!” and begins convulsing herself.

I squeeze her hand back and take her head into my chest, “Shh, it’s over now. It’s all over,” I whisper into her ear as I run my fingers through her hair, a large smile plastered across my face.

When he finally goes limp, I lift Eleanor’s head and stand. “Goodbye, Eleanor,” I say as I turn to leave.

“Sarah. Wait,” she quickly blurts out. I turn to look at her without saying anything. “I’m sorry… for everything.” The words are almost a whisper as she is still crying heavily.

I stare back at her inquisitively, like a cat deciding what to do with a small rodent it just caught. “I’m not,” I say and turn to make my exit.

In her state of hysteria the words don’t even register and she returns to her sobbing.

His last thoughts were of me. I could tell by the stupid look on his face. I stand and exit, following Kelly’s parents. They were weeping throughout the whole ordeal, pouring out the catharsis they came here to find. They probably think they witnessed some form of closure; the man who murdered their daughter being put to death.

I glanced over at them a few times and exchanged sympathetic glances. They knew who I was. The lawyer of the monster who took so much from them and not just the lawyer, but the wife of that very same monster. Yet, for some reason, they were kind to me. I don’t know why. They seemed to see me as one of them, a victim, caught up in the mess left behind by the manifestation of evil on the other side of the glass. Something that justhappenedto all of us. This evil pit of toxic tar and sludge that we all were dropped into and couldn’t free ourselves from. Not until the beast was slain.

They hold the door open for me, and I walk in front of them down the long hallway. I hear little whispers behind me, “I’m glad this is over” and “I’m happy he’s finally paid for his crime” and “Kelly can rest in peace now.” I nearly bite a hole through my tongue to stop myself from chuckling. From turning around and laughing right in their faces.

I push open the doors to the main security area where I had to relinquish my belongings. I check out and they hand everything back to me.

I have a text from Matthew.

John and I are leaving in two hours. Can’t wait to walk you down the aisle tomorrow, and the kids are so excited to see their Aunt Sarah.

I text back,

Thanks, Matthew. Can’t wait to see you guys! Love you.

I go through the rotating glass door at the mouth of the building. Outside the sun is piercingly bright, each of its rays doing all it can to scorch everything in this world. I slide my Chanel glasses over my eyes and walk down the concrete steps.

I may have not been the most honest person. Not to Adam, not to Anne, not to Matthew, not to Sheriff Stevens, not with any of them, but I’ll be honest with myself. Timing is everything and I timed everything out perfectly.

Adam always thought he was so smart, so well-read—the deep one, the introspective one. The warrior for justice and art and everything in between. And he was all those things. He just assumed I wasn’t watching, and he was wrong.

I learned about Kelly and Adam long before she took her final breath. Bob had approached me with evidence of Adam’s infidelities, which he had come across because he was looking to destroy Kelly’s life after what she did to his poor brother. He thought he would kill two birds with one stone—that he’d blackmail me into resigning out of embarrassment or at the very least, that I would lose focus so he could swoop in and get my partnership while taking down Kelly at the same time. He was wrong too. When he brought this to my attention, my reaction was nothing like what he expected, but more than he could have ever hoped for.

We decided to kill Kelly and frame Adam. After all, they did have it coming. Bob was out of town when she was killed to ensure that when the connection between him and Kelly was found out, he’d have an alibi. I didn’t want any loose ends.

We thought about hiring someone to do it, but like I just said about loose ends. There was only one person I could trust to do it and to do it perfectly… it’s like they say, sometimes if you want something done right, well…

I wasn’t pleased to learn that Anne knew Adam was cheating on me. As soon as I discovered the photo in Adam’s desk, I knew it was her behind it. Think I wouldn’t recognize my own assistant’s handwriting? I ultimately did end up forgiving her, letting it all go. After all, we were both each other’s alibis. That night we went out on the town, she didn’t keep track of time or her own alcohol intake, and why would she? She idolized me. I was everything she aspired to be. Time with me was like gold to her. I knew that. I counted on that.

I also knew all of Adam’s vices, and besides young pussy and self-loathing, his next favorite was scotch. Putting a handful of roofies in the decanter was as easy as, well… Kelly. With them both completely out for the evening, their memories on pause, all I needed was a quick detour from the bar at 10pm and a sharp knife. It was simple, like punching holes in a box so the animal inside can have air to breathe. But the opposite in this case.

Adam thought he was so smart. He thought Jesse was a real suspect. I knew Jesse was just a creep who was overly infatuated with Kelly, but following up on Jesse made it look like I was actually working on the case. Jesse was my decoy, just a way to look busy when in reality I was just waiting for everything I put in motion to play out.

That third set of DNA threw me for a loop, I will admit. It was honestly really starting to piss me off that I couldn’t figure out whose it was. I thought I had studied Adam and Kelly well enough to know the details of who was and wasn’t involved in their lives. I thought Bob and I knew everything about those two fucks. That was the only thing that worried me. So, who was this third guy? Had he seen anything? Thank God it ended up being that dipshit Sheriff Stevens. Yet another man who couldn’t keep his dick in his pants. Once I figured it out, I made sure to keep that from the case, because I planned and pushed for a speedy trial and a guilty verdict, and I didn’t need that muddying everything.

Sheriff Stevens ended up helping me anyway without knowing it, thanks to his sloppy police work. Adam definitely had Rohypnol in his system. I know this because he didn’t move, not even once, when I stabbed Kelly to death. The precious new love of his life, being ripped away from him one motion at a time, her blood splashing onto the clear plastic tarp I laid over him like a private little viewing window just for Adam, but he just lay there. So, either that half-wit sheriff didn’t actually test Adam’s blood, or he messed with the evidence to get the case closed quickly. I think it was the latter considering his involvement. It’s also why I left that third set of DNA out of the trial. Sheriff Stevens unknowingly did me a favor, so I returned it in kind.

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