Chapter 2: She's Gone. Come Over.
Part 2 ⬇️
Luke finally sent three words: "Just call me."
My hands were shaking so badly I almost dropped the phone.
He picked up on the first ring.
"Natalie." His voice was low.
Careful.
"After you left…
Jason didn't go quiet.
He got louder."
I pressed the phone harder against my ear.
"He was laughing with the guys, saying you'd be back by morning.
That you always came back." Luke paused.
"Then his mother pulled him aside.
I was standing close enough to hear her."
"What did she say?"
"She said, 'Good.
Now she's gone, you can finally stop pretending.'"
The room tilted.
I gripped the edge of the bed.
"Luke.
What does that mean?"
He went quiet for a long moment.
"Natalie, I think there's something Jason hasn't told you.
Something his family's known for a while." Another pause.
"I saw him step away from the group and make a phone call.
He didn't know I was nearby.
He said a name I didn't recognize.
A woman's name."
My throat closed.
"He said, 'She's gone.
Come over.'"
I couldn't breathe.
Couldn't speak.
Eight years.
Our daughter asleep in the next room.
The casseroles.
The dental checkups.
All of it.
"Natalie, are you still there?"
I was.
But the woman I had been an hour ago was already gone.
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What Natalie found out next was only the beginning.
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The real secret went back further than one phone call — and it involved someone she trusted completely.
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