Page 96 of The Lighthouse on Plum Island
Caroline held it up.
“No!” Jennifer’s reaction was on par with Caroline’s.
“What’s going on?” Brad demanded.
“Yeah, I’d like to know why a picture of my date has you two so spooked,” Alex said.
“Because she’s not yourdate.“ Caroline’s eyes flashed at him. “Tan is my ex-husband’s new wife! My daughter’s stepmother.”
The information silenced the room until the vet came to let them know that Blue Beard would be okay, but the vet would keep him for a few days.
Caroline was still reeling from finding out Tanya was behind trying to sabotage Caroline’s success and stop her television show from going forward. Caroline tried to figure out if she’d ever done anything to warrant what Tanya was doing to her.
It was Tanya who’d had an affair with Robert and stolen Caroline’s husband. She had suspected that Tanya had made Jules believe the divorce had been Caroline’s fault. Tanya and Robert were the innocent parties. Tanya insisted she and Robert lived in the brownstone and didn’t care that Caroline and her daughter would be homeless.
But through all Tanya’s malice and spite, Caroline had never said a bad word about her to Jules. She had helped the womanwhenever Tanya would call at all hours of the day in tears because she believed Robert was cheating on her. It was Caroline who talked Tanya through her first pregnancy.
“What did I do to deserve this?” Caroline asked aloud as she stared out her living room window at the ocean while hugging a mug of tea
“You took everything I wanted!” Tanya’s voice came from behind Caroline, making her spin around.
“Tanya!” Caroline breathed. “Where have you been?”
“Why?” Tanya sneered. “So you can take that away from me too?”
“What have I taken from you, Tanya?” Caroline frowned. “You’re the one that stole my husband and tried to turn my daughter against me.”
“Yet you still landed up with everything!” Tanya’s eyes looked glazed as she looked around the living room. “I don’t understand how such a …” She eyed Caroline disdainfully. “Someone like you would get everything someone like me should have.” She gave an evil laugh. “I couldn’t even get that brat of a daughter of yours to turn against you and tell child services you were abusive so they’d give Robert custody, and he wouldn’t pressure me into having a child.”
“You did what?” Caroline couldn’t believe her ears.
“I tried to get Jules to turn you in so you’d lose custody of her.” Tanya laughed. “But no. Even when the two of you were at odds you were still the best mother in the world to Jules.” She shook her head. “I’m so sick of hearing how great Caroline is. Do you know Robert even compared our beautiful baby girl to Jules and her birth.”
“I was finally rid of you when I came back here to the back end of nowhere, and you faded into the background,” Tanya breathed. “Then all of a sudden, boom, you explode into the light like a supernova once again, getting everything I should have.”
“You have so much, Tanya,” Caroline said, biting back her anger as she realized Tanya was unstable. “A beautiful home, a new daughter, and a husband that loves you.”
“Heloves you!“ Tanya yelled. “You don’t even remember me, do you?”
“You worked at the same firm as Robert,” Caroline humored her. “I do remember you if you’re talking about before you had an affair with him.”
“You were the one having an affair with the man I was supposed to marry!“ Tanya’s voice rose to a hysterical level. “I was Roberts’s fiancée before he met you.”
“Robert wasn’t engaged when I met him.” Caroline’s brow furrowed.
“Yes, he was,” Tanya said.
“No, Robert had come out of a long-term relationship when we met,” Caroline told her. “Childhood sweethearts that had outgrown each other.”
“No, we hadn’t outgrown each other.” Tanya’s anger boiled through her vocal cords, and her hate shone in her eyes. “You stole my life, and all I did was take it back again until you exploded like that supanova and stepped out looking like this.” Her eyes narrowed. “Did it feel good to get your celebrity friends to tempt my husband away from me and make me feel horrible about myself?”
“What are you talking about?” Caroline frowned.
“Don’t play dumb!” Tanya snarled. “You knew what you were doing when you set Dawn Vanderbilt and that Vanessa Vamp Tramp on my husband.”
“Dawn and Vanessa were Robert’s celebrity clients?” That made sense, but what about Alex and Brad. “I didn’t even know Robert was selling celebrity real estate,” Caroline told her honestly. “Is that why you went after Vanessa and Dawn? You think they’re having an affair with Robert?”
“I know they are!” Tanya nodded. “That’s why I went after Alex and Brad. Until you caught Brad’s eye. But then I realized it made my revenge on you even sweeter when I took away your newfound fame and the man you were in love with.”
