Page 32 of Happy Wife

“Godfuckingdamnit.” He dropped the iPad in disgust and reached for the phone in his pocket.

I watched as the brunette in the video looked directly at the camera and flipped up her middle finger. Perfect blowout. Fresh manicure. Chanel sunglasses. “Is that—” I knew before he even said her name.

“Constance—” he said into the phone. A roar of anger came from the other end of the line.

Will held the phone away from his ear, and I was able to make out the words “twenty-year-old twat” before he muffled the phone with his hand and stepped out of the room.

So much for “Constance and I parted as friends.”

“That’s Mia’s key, Constance,” I could hear him shouting from another room. “It’s not meant to be an all-access pass to my fucking wine room.”

And then silence, followed by “Maybe you should have brought it up in the divorce settlement.” Then, “She’s not. She’s a good—Goddamnit, so what if she is! It’s none of your business.”

There was another tense stretch of silence and then, “The only reason I’m not calling the police right now is because neither one of us wants Mia to have to hear about it.”

I felt like I should leave. Like I was intruding on a family matter. That love cocoon I had wanted to keep whole was now in pieces. But I just paced his office. Frozen by indecision over whether to stay or go. And then, about ten minutes later, Will came to find me.

“Dinner will be here in twenty minutes,” he announced, as if that was the thing on our minds.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” He shook his head.

And by the time our Thai food was delivered, he was back to his light, cheerful mood.

Somehow, that was that. Will never pressed Constance to return the wine, and he never filed a report about the theft. Thelocks were changed the next morning. And shipments of wine arrived steadily until the wine cooler was completely replenished as if the whole thing never happened.

I gathered he had too much respect for Constance—she was Mia’s mom after all—to drag her through the mud. I was too wrapped up in the bliss of being with him to care. I should have given more thought to Will covering for her bad behavior.

Chapter16

Three days after

I’m sitting on the floor of my bathroom, googling “Dean Morrison.” I had started to wash my face when I got distracted by the near-compulsive idea that I have to find Dean. To find Will. Unfortunately, there are millions of hits, even when I search “Dean Morrison Florida.”

That doesn’t stop me from scrolling so long my feet go numb. When I finally give up, my legs are jelly as I stand to brush my teeth and then head downstairs.

The house was always too big for just Will and me—even during the weeks we had Mia. But without him home, it’s cavernous. The air is so still it feels brittle. The spacious rooms and echoing hallways only magnify his absence. As I walk downstairs to the kitchen, I feel a sharp, heavy silence that permeates every square foot.

When I clear the landing, I hear something—someone talking maybe?

It’s muffled. An unfamiliar sense of fear grips me, but then, a flicker of hope.

Will?

I follow the sound through the house with one hand at my neck. “Hello?”

“Babe, Will’s on the news,” a voice calls out from the living room.

Este.

I move quickly to reach her—my blood feels like ice in my veins.

“In a developing story, local authorities are searching for a well-known attorney today after family members reported him missing,” Kristy, the female anchor says, her voice infused with a synthetic somberness. A photo of Will that I’ve never seen before flashes on the screen—him in a white button-down and shorts at the beach. “William Somerset of the Hall & Somerset law firm was last seen at his Isle of Sicily home early Sunday. Authorities are currently looking for any information that might lead to him being found.”

Just below the photo, there’s a caption so tiny you would miss it if you weren’t looking:Photo provided by Somerset family.

“What is that?” I point to the caption. Este pauses the playback, and we both walk toward the TV screen with narrowed eyes.

---