Brent was wheeled out of the operating room.
A crowd of employees from the company had come to see him.
He was weak, his lips bloodless, without even the strength to speak.
And yet he still lifted his arm and cupped his palm against the back of that girl's head.
I'd seen her before. She was the girl Brent had rushed off to rescue two years ago.
How absurd. The person who'd made me lose my mind these two years, made me doubt everything, made my marriage fall apart, turned out to be nothing but a fresh-faced young girl.
Brent's taste hadn't changed at all. A young woman brimming with youth, hair always pulled back in a ponytail.
Barely any makeup on her face, only a faint touch of lipstick, and somehow that made her all the more striking.
It was almost as if I were looking at my younger self.
"Marion Pruitt, it's all right. It's just a little wound."
"You look ugly when you cry."
Brent's voice was gentle, and a faint smile curved his pale face.
Marion's lips were pressed into a pout, her eyes red enough to break your heart.
"I was just worried about you."
"Does the wound still hurt?"
"Did you get hurt because of me?"
The sound of the door opening broke through all that sweetness.
Even wrapped in layers of thick bandages, Brent still straightened up and tucked Marion behind him, shielding her.
"She's just a kid who's barely stepped into the working world. Don't use your dirty tricks on her."
Over the years, because of my suspicions, I really had looked into a lot of women.
But those threatening words were only ever meant for Brent's ears.
He was the one who took them for the truth.
He, of all people, should have understood me best. He, of all people, should have known that many years ago I was just like the girl in front of him, simple and naive.
So why had I changed? Because of his unfaithfulness, his lies. He forced the change in me.
I didn't fall apart. I didn't press him over and over, demanding why he was shielding this girl, why he doubted that my heart was true.
Instead I held Brent's medical report in my hand and stepped slowly toward the bed.
"From today on, she can show her face in the open. I won't give her any more trouble."
But Brent's guard against me never once came down.
He lifted his eyelids.
"Marion and I are nothing but boss and employee."
"She won't take your place, and she's no threat to you."
Brent was good at lying. When he lied, his face never flushed, his heart never skipped.
Two years ago, his phone suddenly went locked. Only once, by chance, did I catch a glimpse of his photo album.
It was packed with pictures of his back while he cooked. I hadn't taken them. They could only have come from Marion.
And there were all the nights he never came home, always claiming he was working late.
When I went to the company, I found the whole building dark, not a single light on.
Now, I couldn't be bothered to expose any of it.
"You're Marion, right? I'm willing to hand over the place of Mrs. Gilbert to you. From now on you won't have to hide."
Her knees suddenly gave way and she dropped to the floor, then slowly moved toward me.
Her pale fingers clutched tight at the hem of my clothes.
"Deidre, that's not what I meant, please don't misunderstand. There's nothing between Mr. Gilbert and me, nothing at all, I swear."
I looked down at her, at that clean, fair face. It was hard not to be moved by it.
To prove herself innocent, she raised her hand again and slapped herself hard across the cheek, several times.
"Deidre, I promise I'll keep far away from Mr. Gilbert from now on. But could you please, please stop hurting him?"
Those slaps landed squarely on Brent's heart.
He ignored the wound seeping blood, ran to me barefoot, and looked at me with the most venomous eyes.
"Deidre Swanson, how long are you going to keep this up?"
"What haven't I given you, everything you ever wanted?"
I was only stepping aside, and I'd never hurt her. Why, no matter what I did, did Brent have to treat me like some unforgivable criminal?
This marriage really was a complete failure.
"Brent, what I want, you can't give me anymore."
"This marriage, I'll be the one to yield first. It's fine if you don't sign. I'll leave this place, as far from you as I can get."
