Our Wicked Lies GledĂ© Kabongo (summer reading list .txt) đ
- Author: Gledé Kabongo
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From: Empress Faith
To: Alicia Gray
Re: Eliot Gray
Listen, you ugly cow. Itâs over. Weâre starting a new family. Your days as Mrs. Eliot Gray are numbered. Just accept it, Alicia. Youâre old news, his past.
Empress Faith
New family? With trembling fingers, she tapped the attachment in the email and for the second time that week, an avalanche cascaded over her. The attachment was a photograph. A sonogram, to be exact.
Eliot was having a baby with his mistress.
Alicia hunched over in the chair, as if her skeleton could no longer hold her. The photo shot straight through the heart. Numbness overtook her. She couldnât muster the energy to cry.
The world moved in slow motion. A thick, horrific, nightmarish fog had a stranglehold on her thoughts, emotions, and physical state. She trembled as if it were freezing cold instead of a warm spring night.
Was this her punishment? Was God still angry with her for what sheâd done? She had prayed with Tina, her pastorâs wife, and sheâd assured Alicia that she was forgiven because Christ had died for her sins as it says in John 19:30: it is finished. And sheâd thought it was. But look what was happening now. It didnât seem finished.
The tears suddenly broke like a dam, and then the wounded howling began, followed by heavy crying that made coherent speech impossible. She was so deep in her misery she didnât hear the door open.
âMom, whatâs wrong?â
She jerked upright, placed the phone face down on the desk and wiped her face with the back of her hand as Lily came farther into the room.
âMom, are you okay? You look terrible. Whatâs going on? Should I get Dad?â
âNo,â she said sharply. She took Lilyâs hand for emphasis. âItâs okay, baby. Iâm fine.â
âThen why were you wailing?â
Alicia hated lying and she hated liarsâlike Eliotâbut she had to protect her child. âI was thinking about your grandmother. About when I lost her, how it felt to be all alone in the world at twenty years old.â
âItâs okay, Mom. Youâre not alone anymore. You have us.â
Lily placed her arms around her mother and hugged her tight. What would she do if she didnât have her girls?
âAnd when you get old, I wonât send you to a nursing home,â Lily promised. âYou can come live with me and my family.â
Alicia chuckled. âThank you, Lily. Itâs nice to know I have options.â
âI wish I had met herâyour mom. Grandma Ella is great and all, but it would have been nice to know my maternal grandmother, too.â
âShe would have loved you. Youâre like her in so many ways.â
Lily took a seat on the antique sofa. âTell me how Iâm like her. You never talk about her much. Is it because it makes you sad?â
âWell, a little. Your grandmother was feisty. She wouldnât want us crying. She cursed out the landlord one time because he refused to fix a broken window. I thought he would evict us because she mouthed off to him. She wouldnât back down, though. She withheld the rent and got in his face when he made demands. Eventually, he caved. Only then did she pay the rent.â
âWow, she does sound fierce.â
âShe was. She told the guys who hung around the neighborhood, âundesirablesâ she called them, that if they even so much as looked at me sideways, she would cut off their you-know-what.â
âWhat about Grandpa Reginald? What was he like? You never talk about him, ever. Thatâs not healthy, Mom. Youâre stuffing your feelings.â
Tell me about it.
âYouâre chatty tonight, Missy,â Alicia said, changing the subject. âDid you need something?â
âYes. I came to tattletale on Marston.â
âWhatâs going on?â
âMarston is not okay, Mom.â
âWhat are you talking about? Whatâs wrong with her?â
âItâs the real story behind why she wonât go to prom. Sheâs hurting. It was more than Brandon asking someone else instead of her. Sheâs going to kill me for telling you, but I canât watch her suffer anymore. She would rather die than tell you.â
Alicia switched to mama-bear mode. Forget her husbandâs deceitâthe lying rat. Her daughters were what mattered now.
CHAPTER 23
âIs everything okay, Eliot?â
âWhat?â
His administrative assistant, Erica Jones, asked again, âIs everything okay? Do you need some tea or coffee? Can I get you anything? You seem distracted.â
âI do?â
âYes. You asked me to schedule a meeting with Tom Pfeiffer at JC Stanfield. But you already spoke to him last week about his issues with the Sterling pharma project.â
Eliot rubbed his temple as if trying to remember.
âYou told him if he wouldnât play ball, you would advise your client that another investment bank would be a better fit and have them divest their assets from JCS.â
âOh, yes. Yes. The ball is in Tomâs court now. Iâm sure heâll tell me what I want to hear soon. Not to worry.â
He sat behind his cluttered desk. File folders, documents, pens, and notebooks were strewn all over. This was not normal for him. He liked things neat and organized. What was happening to him? Thank goodness he had Erica to keep him on track.
âHave you spoken to Alicia lately?â Eliot asked her casually. âPerhaps she tried tracking me down at the office and you forgot to mention it?â
She wrinkled a curious brow. âNo. Alicia rarely calls your office line, if ever, and even if she did, I wouldnât forget to tell you. Is something wrong?â
Faithâs bombshell revelation from yesterday afternoon had shaken him. Long after he returned to the office, it continued to rattle around in his head. Heâd lost his focus on work. He was making ridiculous inquiries, and Erica, by the look on her face, thought heâd left his brain on the breakfast table this morning. But he needed to be sure Alicia didnât suspect a thing.
âNothingâs wrong. Everything is great,â he reassured Erica.
The possibility that Faith was lying to force him to end his marriage was real. However, if she was telling the truth, that would be the least of his problems. He would not ask her to terminate
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