Page 55 of Married to Lies

She breathed deeply, loud enough to be heard over the softly playing music. “I don’t remember much before I came here with my parents, just what I was told.”

I imagined Rei as a little girl being taken from one world to another without the ability to understand what was happening to her. “That must have been scary, moving to an entirely different country. I remembered how terrified I’d been to go to school, and that was with my parents in the building.”

Rei looked down at her hands, picking at her short nails. “They said it took me months to talk at all. The first person I spoke to was a Chinese woman from church who knew Mandarin. I wouldn't talk to my parents until I’d been with them for months. It caused... issues.”

The way she said it caused my chest to constrict. I pictured her young and afraid, which made me want to go back in time and protect her with everything I could. Since all I had was here and now, I reached over and squeezed her hand.

She didn’t pull away, letting me hold her for a minute before taking a breath and saying, “I think my mom had this dream of having a daughter... you know, the one you could dress up and wear matching outfits with. She wanted to bond over hair and makeup and dolls and baking, but by the time I could really communicate with her, I was too old to be interested in that and too stubborn to go along with what she wanted. Mom was already hurt and disappointed. I acted out a lot, I think because I knew deep down I wasn’t living up to what she wanted, but that made her even sadder. It was a vicious cycle.”

I squeezed her hand tighter. “Your dad?” It was almost a prayer. A wish. That she’d had someone in the home who had cherished her as she was and not as they wanted her to be.

“He didn’t know what to do with a girl and was busy with my brother.” She shrugged, making my hand move a little bit with hers. “Dennis played a lot of sports, so when Dad wasn’t working, he was taking him to games.”

“You must have been lonely,” I said over the lump in my throat as we pulled to a stoplight.

Her eyes slid shut, and she nodded. “I was.” The red of the light caught a tear sliding down her cheek, and she quickly swiped it away.

I wondered if that loneliness led her to become so social, always talking in an attempt to find the connection she never truly received at home.

She squeezed my hand and then drew hers back. “Sorry, I don’t mean to complain. I know life would be harder if I’d stayed in the orphanage.”

I shook my head. “Don’t apologize. Not to me.” The light changed, and I took off again.

We rode in silence for a moment until the navigation pointed me down a residential road and told me my destination was on the right. I stared at the building—it had to be at least three thousand square feet, with a façade of whitewashed stone and wood, large glass windows reflecting the orangish evening light. Small lights lined the driveway and sidewalk to the front door.

“You can park in the driveway,” Rei said before I could ask if this was really her home.

I did as she asked, still in disbelief.

Rei got out without waiting for me to open her door and said, “Come in. There’s something I need to tell you.”

My stomach knotted at the words. Was she about to tell me she still lived with her ex? That she’d done something illegal to earn extra money on top of her regular job? That she’d divorced a rich and powerful man who would retaliate for my association with her?

I steeled myself for any of the above and followed her to the front door, where she tapped in a code that let us inside. All around us, lights automatically flicked on, showing an open-concept living and dining room with a giant stonework fireplace reflective of the façade that stretched all the way up to twenty-foot ceilings. There was a railing higher up, showing the walkway of the second story.

Rei dropped her keys on the perfectly clean kitchen island and said, “Can I get you something to drink?”

“I... uh, yeah,” I said. My throat did feel dry.

“Sit on the couch... I’ll join you.”

My legs moved mechanically to the plush white sectional couch that wrapped around the living area like a warm scarf. My hip protested as I lowered myself onto the soft material, cushions wrapping around me like they wanted me to stay.

Rei came to the couch, holding two glasses of water in her hands. She set one on the pale wood coffee table and held on to the other as she sat near me. Her knees didn’t touch mine, but I swore I could feel the heat radiating from her.

“You want to know how I afford this house,” she said.

I nodded.

She looked down at our knees, like she was bracing herself. Maybe I should have been too.

“You know the company that does The Tower’s cleaning?” she began.

“The one you work for?” I clarified.

Her lips tugged back for a moment before she said, “It’s mine.”

My eyes widened. “Yours?”