My Marriage Was Their Bet novel · Chapter 11 of 24

Chapter 11: Home

Bancroft met me on the front steps of the Lake Forest house with the ring in his palm.

He had fished it out of his wine glass the night I left, and kept it in his pocket ever since.

"I've worn it every day, in my heart," he said, and put it on my finger himself.

The housekeeper and the gardener watched from the lawn.

I made myself smile.

"I'm so sorry," I said. "I was so tired. I don't know what came over me."

"Don't, baby." His eyes were already wet. "Don't apologize. I was the one who pushed you."

He held me against his chest, and I breathed in the cologne I had bought him for his birthday.

My stomach turned over.

Over his shoulder I saw the cameras on the porch.

There were three.

I had never noticed them before.

"I'll do better," Bancroft said. "I swear. No more girls. That was the last one."

"I know."

"You believe me?"

"I believe you," I said.

He cried in the front hall, and I held him, and the staff went back to their work.

That night he called the friends over to celebrate.

Eight men and their wives crowded into the living room with champagne, and the oldest wife kissed my cheek.

"We were so worried," she said.

"I'm back now," I said, and refilled her glass.

Bancroft stood by the fireplace with his arm around my waist.

"To Daphne," he said. "The best wife a man ever had. She forgave me."

Everyone clapped.

Later, when the wives had gone into the kitchen to find dessert, Bancroft drew the men into his study and shut the door.

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