“I will give you a thousand dollars a month in alimony for two years. That’s all you’ll get. Not one dollar of the bonus from Ned Plymouth. Not one dollar of our stocks or savings or the equity in this house.”
I would never agree to that. He was crazy if he thought I would.
“You’ll sign the settlement agreement and leave me alone, because if you don’t, if you ever comenearme—I’ll tell them about your father. I’ll tell them the story that you detailed in your will. And they’ll believe it, especially if I have Cat beside me, sharing everything about the liqueur you gave her and the details of my fall. They’ll believe your confession, and they’ll dig up his body, and you’ll go to prison.”
I will kill Cat.I didn’t know how or when, but I’d do it. I’d cut her brakes, or push her off a mountain, or get her drunk and drown her in her giant ridiculous pool.
I risked a glance at Matt’s face and inhaled at the contempt and hatred that seeped from the look he was giving me.
Somewhere inside, there was still love. There had to be.
I pushed off the stool and bolted upstairs, needing to get away from that look before it broke me in half.
CHAPTER 49
CAT
I stood on our roof deck and gripped the thin spindles of the ladder. Built into the far end of the deck, it allowed someone to climb onto the roof, where they could walk along the pitched surfaces and see almost 360 degrees around. Around my neck the binoculars hung by a thick strap.
I made my way onto the peak and carefully walked down the opposite slope, settling in one of the elbows where the roof changed direction. Finding a comfortable position on the tile, I watched the front yard of Matt and Neena’s house.
I’d missed her entrance, the taxi coming and going while I argued with William. I asked him again why he’d done it and was given a mountain of explanations that boiled down to one thing: because he could. She’d pursued him, and he’d been too weak to resist the ego boost.
I’d expected that this confrontation would unfold in a similar fashion to what had happened with the dowdy secretary. I’d scream about Neena, and he’d scoff and ridicule. I was prepared for that, but this was an entirely different William, one who looked at me with an almost rabid devotion, which contrasted completely with the fact that he’d screwed her in our company’s boardroom.
William had apologized, over and over again, and I was already sick of hearing it. I didn’t want his apologies. I wanted him tohateher, to grow nauseated at the sound of her name, to constantly associate this affair with pain and headaches and horror. I wanted him to bind himself tousand to vow to never so much as look at another woman.
I’d dismissed his apologies and told him I needed some time for myself. After two hours at the bar with Matt, I soaked in the tub, followed by a quiet dinner in the library, and now—fresh air on the roof.
I had needed the time to think and wanted this final moment for myself.
I thought of Matt’s announcement that he would kick Neena out and wondered if he would actually stick to it. I’d had to tell him that I was leaving William, had to set that false trail to give him something to initially follow. I knew he’d need a push. I’d never seen a husband with such devotion and blind acceptance. I couldn’t let Neena and William have an affair and her be forgiven and loved as if nothing had even happened.
Matt had proven it in our conversation at the White Horse.Last time I didn’t even confront her with it. I found out and never did a thing about it.The confirmation of what I’d already known had warmed me, the tequila blurring the edges of my actions with a rose tint I’d already grown quite accustomed to.
He would have forgiven cheating, but murder? Could any spouse forgive that? Could any husband still love his wife knowing that she wanted him dead?
No.
No.
No.
Which was why I’dhadto do this. I’d had to show him how terrible his life was with her. I’d had toforcethe break, or he’d never have done it on his own, and she would never have any repercussions for her horrible actions.
I cupped my knees to my chest and strained to hear anything from the Ryders’ house. At this angle, I could see their bedroom windows, but the room was dark, their activity still restricted to the downstairs.
Neena had to be overwhelmed right now. Confused. She was probably turning hostile. Calling him crazy. I imagined them screaming, her face mottled in rage, surgically enhanced features twisting in ugly patterns as she denied crimes she knew nothing about.
She’d really made it all too easy for me. So focused on my husband. So rabid for time with him. She had been so concerned with destroying my marriage that she never paid attention to her own.
The lights flicked on in the big front window, and I tilted as far right as I could, watching the progression of their movements as the stairwell lit, then the second-floor hall. I gripped my knees in anticipation, praying that when the bedroom light came on, their curtains were open.
The four windows exploded into action, glowing bright yellow against the dark night. I lifted the binoculars and adjusted their focus, breathing a sigh of relief at the part in the curtain that was wide enough to give me a peek.
Neena stomped across the bedroom, her arms swinging, mouth moving. She stopped and spun, stabbing the air with her finger as she yelled something. I strained to see Matt, letting out a soft sigh when he appeared in the doorway, his own face red, his mouth jawing as he delivered something right back.
I wanted to cheer at the presence of his backbone.I gave him that.I watched as he pointed to the floor. He must be talking about the money.