"Should we take this somewhere private?" Sandra asked hesitantly.
Greta lifted her chin. "Why should we? I don't have anything to hide."
"Neither do I," Charlee-Mae didn't hesitate to declare.
Philippe saw Greta and his wife look at him, and his jaw clenched. "Charlee-Mae—-"
"Do you have something to hide?" she asked softly.
Philippe could feel himself whiten, and although a part of him was terrified of losing her, he also knew the time of lying was over, and the only thing that could save their marriage now was the truth.
"Greta is my mistress."
Charlee-Mae fought to keep her face blank. She had already known that, of course, and she had also expected him to admit this. But even so...it still hurt to hear and know for certain that Greta had intimate knowledge of her husband's body.
"I'm sorry, mon coeur..." Philippe's voice was hoarse. "I never expected to fall for you—-"
"Stop lying!" Greta turned to her mother-in-law wildly. "Your precious son agreed to a fake marriage with that bitch so he could persuade you to transfer your shares to him! Their marriage is nothing but a sham," she spat, "and Philippe had always meant to dump her and marry me—-"
Sandra wanted to believe Greta was lying, but wasn't that what she had feared in the first place?
"It's okay, Maman."
Cha-Cha's reassuring tone had Sandra turning to Philippe's wife in relief. "It's not true, isn't it?"
"It was true—-"
Sandra didn't know what to think anymore. "Was?" Did that mean her son had meant to deceive her but had since changed his mind?
"Because it is just like Philippe said." Charlee-Mae gently retrieved her hands from Philippe's hold and rose to her feet so she could go to her mother-in-law's side. "Philippe and I fell in love," she said softly, "and I think Gretchen sensed—-"
"Greta! It's fucking Greta, you—-" Greta had been about to call the other woman a dumb bitch, but the way Philippe's gaze had suddenly turned deadly made her swallow the words back.
"I am so sorry, Maman..."
Sandra didn't know whether to laugh or cry in relief. The twinkle in Cha-Cha's pretty amber eyes was familiar, and she knew at that moment everything would be alright. One of the reasons she enjoyed watching Cha-Cha's vlogs was how the younger woman had always been so candid in sharing the ups and downs of her life. The dear girl just had this gift for turning every moment of her life into something nice and funny—-
"I seem to have such a hard time remembering my sister-in-law's name. Is it Gremlin? Goblin?"
—-like now.
"But anyway, what was I saying again earlier?"
"You were saying something about, er, Greta sensing something?"
"Oh, yes." Charlee-Mae brightened. "As I was saying, it did seem that Greta had sensed Philippe and I are soulmates, and so naturally, she decided to create some trouble between us."
Philippe was staring hard at Greta. "What kind of trouble?"
"Well—-"
Greta stared incredulously at Philippe's wife. Surely the idiot wouldn't admit the truth? Surely she wouldn't want the whole world to know about Philippe—-
"She recorded your call earlier, Philippe."
Philippe blanched while Greta raised her chin and looked defiantly at everyone staring her way with blatant dislike.
"She emailed me a copy of it," Charlee-Mae went on, "because she wanted me to hear you say you missed her pussy."
Philippe swore, Sandra flinched, while everyone else in the cafe seemed to squirm and fidget in discomfort.
"And it's true," Greta said loudly. "He does miss my—-"
Charlee-Mae shot the other woman a frown. "Please keep quiet, Godzilla!"
The words were exactly what everyone needed to hear, and Sandra couldn't keep her lips from twitching as she saw everyone's discomfort turn into good-natured amusement.
Philippe found himself inhaling sharply as his wife slowly walked up to him. "I'm sorry," he said harshly. "It's been months since I last touched her, and I would never—-" Philippe broke off when Charlee-Mae suddenly wound her arms around his neck.
"It's okay," she said softly. "I won't say it didn't hurt to hear you say those words, but I also know you only said them to humor Goofy—-"
"Salope!" You bitch!
"You knew she was likely to cause more trouble, so you told her what she wanted to hear...even if it was a lie."
Philippe searched his wife's face for any sign of anger or hurt, anything that would give him a clue on just how hard he would need to grovel and beg for her forgiveness—-
But instead, all he saw was love...and a good amount of mischief.
"Because the truth is..."
Charlee-Mae looked at him expectantly, and Philippe did not hesitate to throw out of the window decades' worth of lessons on etiquette and propriety. He knew exactly what she was asking for, knew exactly what was the one thing he could do to make up for his stupidity, and Philippe heard himself say, "The truth is that it is your pussy alone that I would ever want to fuck, your pussy alone that I would ever miss—-"