Asshole Husband

All of this was a lie?

Grabbing her cell phone, she quickly dialed her sister, Mary.

“Hello,” Mary said, groggily.

“It was all a lie, wasn’t it? That’s what you tried to warn me about?”

“Rachel?”

“Don’t try to spare my feelings. I heard him. I heard Wolfe.” The tears were falling now, and she swiped them away, wanting to not cry, to at least appear strong.

“Oh, honey.”

“Don’t do that. I’m twenty years old. You don’t need to treat me with kid gloves. Just tell me the truth,” she said. “Did you know?”

Mary sighed on the other end. “I knew he wasn’t all that he’d seemed. I first met him at a party. He wasn’t a nice guy then, and he isn’t one now. I did try to warn you.”

“But I didn’t listen. Have you ever … slept with him?”

“No. Like I said, I like my men to be less mean. Wolfe, he’s not a nice guy, but he seemed to make you happy and you wouldn’t listen. I wasn’t going to take that away from you.”

Rachel sniffled. “I made a big mistake.”

“Did he fuck you?”

“Mary!”

“Come on, you’ve been prudish for a long time. It doesn’t get you anywhere. You’ve got to wake up and realize the world is all about the sex and fucking. You’re being delusional if you think it is anything else. I’m trying to help you,” Mary said.

“Yes.”

“Then an annulment is out of the question. You’re going to have to divorce him.”

Rachel put a hand to her chest, hating the very word. She didn’t want to get an annulment or end her marriage.

Not after less than twenty-four hours.

Even after hearing all she had, she still loved him.

Wolfe had lied about his feelings, but she hadn’t. Hers were real, which made the pain of his betrayal even worse.

She sniffled. “I’ve got to leave. He’s with someone in his office. Can you come and pick me up? Please? I’m so sorry I didn’t listen to you.”

“You’re my sister. I love you. Of course I’ll come and pick you up. Be ready in half an hour. I’ll be there.”

Hanging up the phone, Rachel rushed toward the closet. She found her bag there. All of her clothes had already been taken out of it. While she’d been waiting for Wolfe to appear, she’d felt so happy seeing her clothes beside his.

She couldn’t believe how stupid she’d been.

Removing her robe, she pulled on a pair of jeans and a shirt. Her parents had been wealthy, but she’d always been the down to earth sister who hadn’t been drawn into the latest fashion trends.

Much to her parents’ amusement, she loved to sew and create. She didn’t do fashion, but she did make her own clothes.

Wolfe had said it was a charming hobby.

Now, she couldn’t believe a word that had ever been said. He’d told her he loved her, how he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. The three kids he wanted? It had all been lies.

Manipulations to get her to be with him, not because he had to have her, but to take her inheritance and what came with her small fortune.

Throwing the bag to the bed, she grabbed most of her clothes, and as she was stuffing the last few items, Wolfe walked into the bedroom.

He’d rolled down his sleeves, hiding the ink he’d told her was a dare he’d been given in college to get.

Probably lies too.

The man she’d glimpsed wasn’t her Wolfe, and never would be.

“What is going on? Are you excited about our honeymoon already?” he asked.

He took a step toward her, and she moved back.

Wolfe paused. “Rachel, what is going on? I don’t understand. You were perfectly content when I left you to get a drink.”

She stared at him.

His voice was once again soft, and he spoke a little slower as well. Did he think she was so stupid she wouldn’t catch on?

“Drop the act,” she said.

“Excuse me?”

“I was the easiest sister. Not the slut, or the one who’d question your motives. I was the easy target for you to get what you want.”

She stared at him, and she saw the moment he realized she knew.

He took another step toward her.

“Don’t.”

“Rachel, what you heard, it was all lies. You don’t know the truth.”

“No, this right now, this is the lie. What you’re doing now, drop it. Drop the act. You don’t love me. You never have.” She shook her head. “You know, my parents warned me about men like you who’ll want to use me for what I’ve got. I never thought it would happen to me. I’m … me. I don’t stand out in a crowd. I don’t…” She shook her head, and went to her bag.

“You don’t understand what was going on. I had to say those things because I don’t want anyone to know the truth. Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” Wolfe asked.