Page 16 of In Love with My Secret Husband

One day at a time.

That was the only way to survive this. She would take things one day at a time while making sureneverto forget that this wasn’t her home. Not now. Not ever.

ON THE FIRST THREEdays, Troy had tried to invite her to share a meal with him. Or spend time with him in any way.

I made some breakfast. Do you want to join me?

Do you want some coffee?

Are you still awake?

He would never have tired of inviting her again and again...if he hadn’t caught sight of the way she had bitten her lip as she turned away from him. She had just turned him down, as she had every right to.

And yet when he caught her reflection on the window, it was as if she had broken her own heart by saying no to him.

And that...that was what made it the last time he had ever asked her to spend time with him again.

Because he had already hurt her enough.

Since then, Troy had found another way to spend time with his wife.

He wasn’t proud of it. In fact, he was fairly certain it qualified as the behavior of a man who had lost his mind. But every night, after she had retreated to her room and the house had gone quiet, Troy would sit in his study and watch Laina move around their home through the security cameras.

Every day, he would watch her.

Every day, he would wait for something he didn’t know how to define.

Something that would tell him he had a chance.

But instead, what he found was the opposite, with Laina checking her phone one morning, and his whole being turning cold when he saw how a helpless little smile had touched her lips. He went back a couple of seconds and played the footage again, this time zooming in on the screen of her phone.

Oscar Baldwin.

He forwarded the name to Burton, and his security guy didn’t disappoint him. It took only an hour for Burton to call him back.

“He teaches third grade, same school where Mrs. Barrymore teaches. Drove your wife home from school once, about a month before the leak.”

“Where the hell was Marlon?” Troy demanded.

“She insisted he take the afternoon off when his father came to visit.”

She had given the driver the afternoon off, and he hadn’t known it?

Instead of calling her own husband to pick her up from school, he had let another man drive her home instead?

ANOTHER WEEK PASSED. Laina was waiting for him outside his study when he stepped out, looking nervous and determined at the same time.

“What is it?”

“Do you think it’s safe for me to go back to the apartment?”

“No.”

Laina so badly wanted to ask if Troy was lying to her. But if she did, and it turned out he wasn’t, then wouldn’t it mean like she was assuming things? Wouldn’t it be so embarrassing if hewastelling the truth, and here she was, acting like he was lying for the sake of keeping her around?

“Is there anything else you want to ask?”

“I...I was wondering if I could at least get back to work.”