Page 106 of The Bad Husband

How else can I explain that the second I push it open, she jumps back, not looking much better than how she looked downstairs, and she stares at me with wide eyes?

“I’m so sorry,” she starts. “I didn’t mean to say that. It just slipped out. I’m really not used to these kinds of situations, and I don’t like lying. Please tell me everything’s all right. Is she all right?’

I close the door and press my back against it, taking her in.

“Go change,” I say quietly.

Her eyebrows move up.

“Are we going someplace?”

I study her face.

“Stop being so afraid,” I say, noticing the fear in her eyes. “Are you afraid of her or of me?”

She bites her lip, pushing her answer back.

She’s afraid of both of us.

“Why are you afraid of Henrietta?”

She hugs her robe closer before she runs a trembling hand over her hair.

“Honestly?”

“Yes.”

“She’s a vile woman. She married my father for his money.”

“You don’t say.”

“It’s not funny.”

“I know it’s not. What was her story? What kind of line did she feed your father?”

“One night she walked into one of his casinos wearing a sexy dress. I think she had everything planned out. She didn’t do much in the casino before she approached him. She knew exactly who he was. My father was never into gambling or anything like that, but he liked to watch the patrons. She obviously caught his attention when she sat at a table and won a lot of money. The whole thing piqued my father’s interest. He chatted with her, and she confessed she had nowhere to go. Her billionaire boyfriend had just broken up with her and left her with no money to survive.”

She stops.

“Are you the billionaire boyfriend in her story?”

I push off the door and move toward the patio doors.

“Did she say she owed her life to him?” I murmur, crossing my arms over my chest and staring at the pool.

“No, she did not.”

I turn around, wearing a smile.

“Well, then she must have also forgotten to mention that she had stolen money from her billionaire ex.”

“Are you a billionaire?”

“What difference does it make?”

“It doesn’t. Money is not everything.”

I laugh quietly.