Page 15 of The Edge Of Us

I justified it. Told myself I deserved this. That Corinne wasn’t really my wife anymore. That she was gone, replaced by a stranger who barely knew my name. I told myself I was lonely. That Natasha was the only person who saw me. The only one who cared.

I stopped feeling guilty. Or maybe I just stopped caring.

The affair became my escape. The one part of my life that didn’t feel like it was falling apart. I would wake up every morning, take care of Kyle, play the role of the devoted husband and father, and then at night, I would slip away to Natasha’s arms, to her bed, to the place where none of the chaos mattered.

But the thing about affairs? They never stay hidden forever.

I told myself I had everything under control. That no one would know. That it was just a temporary relief, something to keep me from breaking entirely.

But I was already broken. I just didn’t realize how deep the cracks had run.

And one day, those cracks would shatter everything.

Chapter 10

Corine

Two Years Later

The house was alive with the hum of conversation, laughter, and the sweet melody of a child’s birthday song playing in the background. The scent of vanilla cake and fresh flowers filled the air, mingling with the chatter of friends and family who had gathered to celebrate Kyle’s second birthday. I stood bythe dessert table, watching as my son giggled in delight while unwrapping a brightly colored present, his chubby fingers struggling with the ribbon.

It had been two years. Two long, exhausting, heartbreaking years since my life had shattered into a million pieces. Two years since my mind had become my enemy, dragging me into a world where I couldn’t tell reality from delusion. But I was better now. I no longer woke up screaming in the middle of the night. I no longer felt the weight of unseen hands pressing down on me, suffocating me with my own thoughts. The psychosis had faded, just as the doctors had promised it would, once my hormones stabilized and the postpartum haze lifted.

And Allen… well, Allen had started to come back to me, little by little. He was no longer as distant as he had been during those early days when I was drowning in madness. He held me again. He looked at me again. He called me ‘love’ again.

But there were still moments—moments when I’d catch him staring into the distance, lost in thought, his phone gripped a little too tightly. Moments when I’d reach for him in bed, and he’d be stiff beneath my touch, as if he had grown used to sleeping alone.

And today was one of those moments.

Allen had disappeared.

It wasn’t unusual. Over the past year, he’d started vanishing at odd times, slipping away without a word, only to return hours later with vague excuses. Work. A meeting. Stress.

I told myself it was nothing. That it was my paranoia talking, that I was imagining things because my mind had betrayed me before. But still, it gnawed at me.

“Mommy!” Kyle’s voice snapped me back to the present. He was running towards me, arms stretched out, his dark curls bouncing with each step. I scooped him up, inhaling his sweet baby scent as he buried his face in my shoulder.

“My birthday, Mommy!” he giggled, his voice high and full of excitement.

“Yes, baby, it’s your big day,” I whispered, pressing a kiss to his chubby cheek.

Just then, the front door creaked open. My head snapped up, and there he was—Allen. He stepped inside, adjusting the cuffs of his sleeves, his face carefully composed. His eyes swept over the room before landing on me.

“Hey,” he said casually, as if he hadn’t just vanished for the past hour.

I forced a smile. “Hey. Where did you go?”

He hesitated. Just for a second. Barely noticeable, but I saw it. “Had to take a call. Business.”

I nodded slowly, forcing myself to believe him.

Then, thirty minutes later, the door opened again.

Natasha.

She strode in like she owned the place, her dark red dress hugging her figure perfectly, her eyes scanning the room before settling on Allen for the briefest second. Then, she turned to me with a bright smile.

“Corinne! Happy birthday to this little prince!” she cooed, reaching out to ruffle Kyle’s curls.

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