Betrayed in My Own Bed

I pushed the front door open. The house was entirely too quiet for a Tuesday afternoon.

I had cut my European business trip short by three days to surprise my husband, Killian, and our five-year-old son, Leo. I left my suitcase by the entryway console and slipped my shoes off.

A muffled sound drifted down the hallway.

Laughter. A low, soft moan.

I walked toward the master bedroom. The door stood ajar. I pushed the wood flat against the wall.

Killian was pinned to the mattress. Above him, riding him, was Blair. My best friend. The woman I had pulled out of bankruptcy two years ago.

"Killian," I said.

They scrambled. Blair shrieked, ripping the duvet off the bed to cover her bare chest. Killian lunged for his boxers on the floor.

"Elowen!" Killian’s face flushed dark red. "You're supposed to be in London."

"Clearly." I held my ground in the doorway.

Blair curled her knees to her chest. Tears instantly flooded her eyes. Her bottom lip trembled as she clutched the white linen.

"El," Blair whimpered. "Please, don't be mad at him. It's my fault. I was just in such a dark place, and he comforted me. We didn't mean for this to happen."

"You're naked in my bed, Blair. That requires quite a bit of meaning."

Killian stepped between us, his bare chest shielding her. "Back off, Elowen. Don't attack her."

"Attack her?" A bitter laugh escaped my throat. "I just walked in on my husband fucking my best friend."

"I tried to stop it," Blair cried out, burying her face in her hands. "I really did. But he was so sad, El. He missed having a real wife."

Pattering footsteps echoed in the hall.

"Mommy!"

My heart leaped. I turned, dropping to one knee with my arms wide open. "Leo, baby, Mommy's home early—"

Leo blew right past me.

He didn't even look at my outstretched arms. He ran straight to the bed, clutching a stuffed green dinosaur against his chest. He threw his arms around Blair’s waist.

"Mommy Blair, why are you crying?" Leo glared over his shoulder at me. "Did she yell at you again?"

The air left my lungs. My hands fell to my sides.

"Leo," I whispered. "What did you call her?"

"Go away!" Leo screamed. He pressed his face into Blair’s side. "I hate you! You're never here! You just care about your stupid airplanes and meetings. I want Blair. She plays with me."

Blair stroked his hair, shooting me a watery, helpless glance. "It's okay, sweetie. I'm right here. Don't be scared."

I stared at the three of them. A perfect, twisted family portrait.

"You taught him to say that," I said, looking at Killian.

Killian crossed his arms. He didn't even have the decency to look ashamed anymore.

"He figured it out himself, Elowen," Killian snapped. "What did you expect? You're gone three weeks out of every month. You chose your company over us. You abandoned this family."

"I pay the mortgage on this house. I pay for his private school."

"Money doesn't raise a child!" Killian yelled. "Blair stepped up. She was here when Leo had a fever last week. She cooks for us. She bought him that dinosaur. She's the mother he actually needs. And she's the wife I need."

"You're cold, Elowen," Blair added softly, wiping a tear from her cheek. "Look at you. You just caught us, and you're not even shedding a tear. This is exactly why he turned to me. You're a machine."

I didn't scream. I didn't cry. The shock morphed into a freezing, razor-sharp clarity.

I finally looked around the room. Really looked.

My vanity was cluttered with Blair's signature pink perfume bottles. The closet door hung open, revealing rows of her floral dresses pushed right up against Killian’s suits. My tailored coats were completely gone.

I walked over to the dresser.

"What are you doing?" Killian demanded.

I swiped aside a pile of Blair's cheap gold bangles. Underneath them sat my diamond wedding band. The one I left behind when I traveled so I wouldn't lose it.

They hadn't just slept together. They had moved her in. They had erased me.

I pulled my phone from my pocket. I opened the camera and hit record.

"August fourteenth," I said aloud, panning the lens across the vanity, the closet, the tangled sheets, and finally, the three of them huddled together. "Master bedroom. Killian and Blair."

"Hey!" Killian lunged forward. "Put that away! Are you crazy?"

I took a step back, keeping the camera steady. "Stay right there, Killian. The lighting is perfect."

Blair hid her face behind Leo. "Elowen, stop! You're scaring the boy!"

"You lost the right to use my son as a shield the second you spread your legs in my house," I said smoothly. I tapped the screen to snap a few high-resolution photos of her bare shoulders and Killian's half-dressed state.

"Give me the phone," Killian growled, taking another step.

"Touch me, and the police will be here in three minutes for assault. Followed by my lawyers." I lowered the device, slipping it back into my jacket pocket.

Killian froze. His jaw tightened. "You're overreacting. We can talk about this. For Leo's sake."

"There is nothing left to talk about."

"Ten years, El," Blair pleaded, her voice cracking. "We've been friends for ten years. Please don't throw that away."

"You threw it away," I told her. "Keep the ring. It suits a thief."

I turned on my heel and walked out of the bedroom.

"Elowen!" Killian shouted from the hallway. "If you walk out that door, don't bother coming back! We don't need you!"

I didn't stop. I grabbed my suitcase from the foyer and pulled the front door open.

The lock clicked shut behind me, severing my past completely.

I tossed my bag into the trunk of my car and climbed into the driver's seat. My hands gripped the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white. I stared at the front window of the house. The curtains twitched. Blair was watching me leave.

I pulled out my phone and dialed a number I hadn't called in five years.

"Mr. Gallagher," I said when the line connected.

"Elowen. It's been a while. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I need the best divorce shark in your firm. And I need you to draft the paperwork to liquidate the marketing agency I bought for Killian."

"Liquidate? Elowen, that will bankrupt him by Friday."

"I know," I said, starting the engine. "Make sure it happens by Thursday."