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Chapter_51
make sure I wasn’t lying. The nerve of him—always questioning my every move. He had no right to treat me like this, yet here I was, enduring it all for Ava’s sake. I could feel the heat rising in my chest as I got out of the car, trying to hold onto my composure.
We walked into the store together, and I immediately felt a strange sense of discomfort. The brightly lit interior and the scent of leather and fresh polish seemed to amplify the tension in the air. I didn’t want to be here, but Matthew’s constant presence made it impossible to ignore. His gaze never left me as I approached the counter, pretending to search for shoes for his mother.
I could feel his eyes on me as I picked out a random pair of shoes, trying to buy some time. I needed to think of a way to get out of this—out of the web I had trapped myself in.
“Anything else, ma’am?” the sales assistant asked, pulling me from my thoughts.
I hesitated, glancing back at Matthew, who stood with his arms crossed, watching me like a hawk. I felt so small in that moment. “No, this should be fine,” I replied curtly, trying not to let my irritation show.
I paid for the shoes, my hand trembling as I handed over the cash. Matthew didn’t say a word as we left the store, his eyes still locked on me with an unreadable expression. I could feel his frustration brewing, but I didn’t care. I didn’t owe him any explanations anymore.
Once we were back in the car, the silence was suffocating. I wanted to scream at him, to tell him everything I was feeling, but I held it in. For Ava. She deserved a stable environment, even if it meant swallowing my pride every day.
As we drove to his mother’s house, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread settle over me. Dinner at the Murphy household wasn’t something I looked forward to. Melanie’s presence was always a reminder of everything that was wrong with my marriage—everything that had been ripped away from me.
When we arrived, Ava was practically bouncing in her seat, excited to see her grandmother. Matthew, on the other hand, looked annoyed, his jaw set tight. I tried to shake off the tension, telling myself that this wasn’t about me or him—it was about Ava.
But as we walked into the house, I couldn’t ignore the weight of everything that had been left unsaid. Melanie was already waiting, her usual cool demeanor in place. I could tell she knew something had shifted between me and Matthew. Maybe she even found some twisted satisfaction in it. But I didn’t have the energy to deal with her tonight.
Dinner passed in strained silence. Ava chatted happily with her grandmother, completely oblivious to the tension between the adults in the room. Matthew barely said a word to me, his attention focused elsewhere. I couldn’t help but feel like an outsider in my own marriage.
As the night wore on, I found myself retreating into my own thoughts, wondering how much longer I could keep pretending that everything was okay. How much longer I could keep up this façade of a perfect family while my world slowly crumbled around me.
When we left, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off—that Matthew had some plan in motion that I wasn’t privy to. But I had bigger things to worry about. The investigation into his shady dealings, the lies, the betrayals—everything was starting to collide in a way that felt dangerous.
And yet, as we drove back home, I found myself more conflicted than ever. The man who had once been my partner, my husband, had become a stranger. And I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to know who he really was anymore.