“No,” he agreed. “But nor can I let you continue to ruin my sister’s marriage.”
The words hung between them like tiny little bullets. They sat heavy in the air and then flew swiftly towards Sophie. She staggered back as though she’d been hit, and reached for the edge of the bed. She sank into it weakly. “What are you talking about?”
Alex could have strangled himself, if it were at all physically possible. He had not intended to say so much to his wife, and yet it had simply blurted out. Now? What choice did he have but to have this discussion? Perhaps, if warned off, Sophie might choose not to go after Eric.
“I know about you and Eric.”
She stared at him with a host of emotions storming across her face. “What do you know about me and Eric?” Her voice was barely a whisper.
He refused to feel sorry for her. The obvious discomfort was because of her actions and culpability, not his.
“I know that you and Eric, my friend, a man I trusted and cared for, have been having an affair. It is making Helena miserable. I will not allow it to continue.”
Sophie wrapped her arms around her waist, as realisation after realisation continued to explode in her brain. There was no affair, but she was chasing after him, down a rabbit hole into the bizarre reality she now realised he’d been inhabiting. “How would you stop it?” She wondered aloud. “I mean, you did stop it, didn’t you? By marrying me… That’s what you think?” She closed her eyes. “Oh my God. Am I the most gullible idiot in the world or what?” She stood up but swayed a little on her legs and had to sit back down again.
His mouth was grim. “I needed to remove you from the situation.”
She felt as though she was about to be sick, but she had no intention of letting him see how completely he’d devastated her.
“You married me because you believed Eric and I were having an affair and you wanted to end it. Right?”
His temper spiked. “I married you because I knew you and Eric to be engaged in an affair.”
“How did you know?” She pushed, her body limp-feeling.
“That is hardly relevant.”
Sophie nodded slowly. “I guess not.” Tears sparkled in her eyes. She steeled herself to find a hidden reserve of strength, and tried to stand again. When she spoke, her words were little more than a whisper, but he heard them clearly. “Except that you were wrong. Completely wrong.”
“Even now, you lie to me? When I know the truth?”
“You don’t know the truth,” she said thickly. “But I’m glad I finally do.”
A sob was threatening in her chest. She swallowed it back, but it made her throat ache.
His voice was a soft plea – unusual for a man like Alex. “You will ruin her life if you continue this.”
Sophie was numb to her core. “I’m not involved with Eric. He loves your sister.”
“Bullshit. He loves you. I’ve seen the two of you together. I saw him come from your room late at night.
I heard you speaking to him on the phone a few weeks ago. Talking about the secret you must keep from me, because Helena and I could never forgive the two of you. Do not make me think worse of you now, Sophie, by failing to own up to what you have done.”
Her laugh was bitter. “You’re sick, do you know that?” She moved to her wardrobe on autopilot and scanned it for her more practical clothes. She grabbed things at random. Jeans. A shirt. A dress. Shoes. And then, her arms full, she threw them onto the bed while she hunted around for a bag.
“I have already told you that I am protective of Helena. She was miserable about the affair. She begged me to help.”
Sophie sniffed as she stuffed her clothes into the suitcase. Everything would need to be ironed again, and she hated ironing, but packing neatly would take time, and she couldn’t stay in the house a moment longer.
“There was no affair,” she said again, zipping the suitcase up ferociously. It snagged her nail and she swore.
“Then what secret are you and Eric huddling over so conscientiously. What were the ‘late night sessions’ you spoke of engaging in with him?”
Sophie thought about lying to Alex, to protect Eric further, but in that moment, she hated Eric and Helena almost as much as she did her husband.
With a voice that was surprisingly calm, and eyes that were devoid now of feeling, she faced her husband and said, “Your sister isn’t well. I believe she has severe depression. Eric is beside himself with worry. We would meet secretly to discuss what we had noticed and plan a way to help her.”
Alex was as still as a statue. Only a muscle that ticked in his cheek showed that he felt any emotion. “Another lie.”