Chapter 2 - Twenty Yards Away
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I had no choice but to follow her. My legs moved mechanically, feeling entirely detached from my body. The twenty yards separating us from my husband and his lover felt like a mile stretch across a minefield.
Daniel did not notice our approach. He was too captivated by the woman gazing up at him. It wasn't until we were less than five feet away that Margaret finally spoke.
“Daniel.”
Her voice wasn't loud, but it cut through the ambient noise of the mall like a scalpel.
He turned his head. I watched three distinct, devastating expressions cross my husband’s familiar face in the span of two agonizing seconds.
Surprise.
Blind panic.
Cold calculation.
“Mom?” he choked out, his eyes wide.
Then, his gaze shifted slightly to the left, landing on me. The color drained from his face entirely.
“Emily?”
The brunette woman beside him immediately straightened her posture, sensing the sudden shift in the atmosphere, but she did not let go of his arm. Her fingers remained curled into the luxurious cashmere of the coat I had bought him.
Daniel swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing. “What are you doing here?”
Margaret offered him a chillingly pleasant smile. It was the smile of a predator circling its prey.
“Christmas shopping, darling,” she said smoothly.
Daniel glanced frantically around the mall, his eyes darting toward the escalators as though hoping a fire alarm might suddenly go off and save him. “I thought you and Emily were going tomorrow. That was the plan.”
“We decided to change our plans,” Margaret said. She didn't offer a single word of explanation beyond that.
Then, with the precision of a seasoned diplomat, Margaret pivoted her attention to the woman still clinging to Daniel’s arm.
“I don’t believe we’ve been introduced. I’m Margaret Bennett. Daniel’s mother.”
The woman’s eyes widened slightly. Her fingers finally, slowly, uncurled from Daniel’s sleeve, dropping to her side.
Margaret reached out and placed one hand lightly, protectively, against the center of my back.
“And this,” Margaret continued, her voice echoing with absolute authority, “is Emily Bennett.” She let the silence stretch for one agonizing second before delivering the final blow. “His wife.”
I watched the woman’s face closely. For the first time, she looked genuinely uncomfortable. She shifted her weight, a deep flush of red creeping up her neck.
But there was one thing missing from her reaction. She was not shocked.
That subtle detail hit me harder than a physical blow.
She knew.
“Hi, Emily,” the woman said softly, her voice carrying a sickeningly sweet tone. “Nice to finally meet you.”
Finally.
One single word. It wasn't "Who are you?" It wasn't "Wife? Daniel, what is she talking about?" It was "Finally." She already knew exactly who I was. I was the obstacle. I was the inconvenience in her love story.
I felt my fingernails digging so deeply into my palms that the skin threatened to break. I couldn't speak. If I opened my mouth, I would scream.
Margaret covered my clenched fist with her own gloved hand. The gesture was so microscopic that the woman didn't notice, but Daniel did. He saw the silent alliance forming between his wife and his mother.
“Mom,” Daniel began, stepping forward, his hands raised defensively. “Let me—”
Margaret cut him off effortlessly.
“Dinner. Seven o’clock sharp. Our house.”
Daniel blinked, thoroughly thrown off balance. “Tonight?”
“Yes, Daniel. Tonight.”
“Mom, tonight isn’t really a good time, I have—”
“Your father wants to speak with you,” Margaret interrupted, playing her trump card.
Daniel’s face changed once again. His father, Robert Bennett, was a retired judge. He was the one person in the world Daniel had never been able to charm, manipulate, or pacify with half-baked excuses.
“Dad knows?” Daniel whispered, genuine fear leaking into his voice.
Margaret smiled that terrifying smile once more. “Seven o’clock.”
May you like
She turned her gaze to the woman, her eyes raking over her with aristocratic disdain. “Merry Christmas.”
And with that, Margaret turned on her heel and walked away. I followed, leaving my husband standing paralyzed in the middle of a winter wonderland.
