Page 64 of The Revenge Plan

He was close. So close I could see the pores of his skin even in the low light. I pressed my hand to his chest. He stepped back; he didn’t let me go, his hand held me firmly.

“What’re you doing here?”

“I’m an invited guest. The guest of honor in fact,” he leaned forward, “I thought you were aware.”

“Stop being facetious. What’s your real reason for being here?”

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you. You went away without any notice.”

“You told me to get out of your house!” the gall of his questioning. He chased me out.

“Without telling me where you had gone. We’re still husband and wife after all.”

“Do you care? I thought it best to not see each other.”

He shook his head. He was still close. The small space between us, which should have been suffocating, was making me feel breathless.

“You’re a murderer, Hailey. We can’t have you running away without facing justice now can we.”

My stomach fell. “Wh-what do you mean by that? Are you going to—”

“Send the tape to the police? No. That’s too cumbersome and I might not even get the outcome I want.” He stepped closer until our mouths were barely touching, “you deserve a much worse punishment than what the courts would give you, if any at all.”

My voice was barely audible. That was how much I was afraid of what was going to happen, “I’m sorry Caiden.”

“No. There is no remorse in those enormous eyes.”

“I am. Truly I am.”

“Shut up. Shut up.” I could sense the anger building within him. I could feel it in the tightening grip on my hand.

“Caiden—”

Anger and spite contorted his face. I had never seen him display such hate for anyone. He truly hated me. There was no way someone like him would accept a child between him and I.

“What do you want from me, I’ll do whatever you want to ease your pain.”

“There’s one thing I want. The truth.”

“Can you give me that?”

40

She faltered. She bit her lip in a way that made me want to kiss her. I shouldn’t want to. I should be over her. Truth is, I wanted to see her again. I had been lying to myself the entire week, giving myself stupid excuses about why I was here in the first place. But one look at her was enough to rid me of that silly notion.

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know? Are you still on your bullshit story?”

“That’s because I truly cannot remember! I wish I could and I could tell you everything you wanted.”

“You’re truly something else, you know.” I broke away from her even when I kept yearning to touch her.

“I wish I could tell you a story to satisfy you, but I can’t.”

More lies. Why had I convinced myself that she had changed? I had spun a tale in my mind that was influenced by my last time with her. This was the real Hailey.

“So this is how you’re going to play it? That was the last chance I was giving you to not be like your family.”

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