Chapter 2: What Was Already Gone Before I Came Home
Brandon was in our bed.
With Kayla.
My sister.
My sister who had sat beside me in that hospital room, held my hand, brought my daughter to see me.
That Kayla.
For a moment I couldn't move.
Couldn't breathe.
My ribs were already screaming but I barely felt them.
Brandon scrambled upright, grabbing the sheet.
"Nicole — this isn't —"
"Don't," I said.
My voice came out quiet.
Steady.
I don't know how.
Kayla wouldn't look at me.
She just sat there, hair loose, eyes fixed on the floor like if she stared hard enough she could disappear through it.
Lily was still holding my hand.
She'd known.
She'd stood in that entryway and waited for me because she'd known, and she hadn't wanted me to walk in alone.
I looked at my daughter.
Eight years old, gripping my fingers so tight.
Then I looked back at Brandon.
"How long?" I asked.
He opened his mouth.
Closed it.
That was when I noticed something on the nightstand.
My engagement ring.
Already off my finger from the hospital.
But next to it was something else — a folded piece of paper I had never seen before.
I took one step into the room.
"Nicole, wait —" Brandon said, and the way he said it made my bl00d go cold.
---
What was on that piece of paper — and how long had Brandon and Kayla been hiding this?
May you like
The full truth is darker than you think.
Click the link below to read the complete story.
