Bankrupting My Husband's Fake Perfect Family novel · Chapter 1 of 16
Chapter 1: Thursday Roast
Silencing her son's phone alarm at dinner, Erin finds her husband's second family, and her children in it, then texts a divorce lawyer while Brian toasts the perfect family.
"Mom! Liam's eating my potatoes again!"
Mia's voice carried all the way into the kitchen.
"You have like forty of them," Liam said. "Share, brat."
"They're mine. Mom made them for me."
"She makes them every Thursday. You're not special."
I dried my hands and went to the dining room doorway.
Roast beef, green beans, a bowl of mashed potatoes big enough for six people.
"Leave your sister's plate alone," I said. "There's more in the bowl."
Mia shoved the gravy boat at him. "Here. Pig."
A loud rap song started up from the living room couch. Liam's alarm.
"Kill that thing!" Brian called from the kitchen.
I heard glasses clink behind me.
"I'm opening the Merlot, Erin. Two minutes."
"I'll get it," I said. "Liam, sit."
"Thanks, Mom!"
The phone was face up between the couch cushions.
I swiped the alarm away.
A text slid down from the top of the screen before I could set it down.
Dad: Porsche deposit's done. Taking you and Mia to see your little brother Saturday. Don't slip up.
I read it again.
Little brother.
Porsche.
I tapped the banner.
The thread opened.
Liam: Sick. Mia's losing her mind.
Dad: Keep your mom busy tonight so I can pack.
Liam: Easy. We'll say we need help with history.
I pressed the home button.
My heart was loud in my ears.
I opened his photos.
The newest album was called Summer Trip.
The first picture was a beach, bright white sand.
Brian stood in the middle in swim trunks I had never seen.
A blonde woman leaned against his chest. She looked about thirty.
Liam and Mia stood on either side of them.
And between my children, hugging their legs, was a little boy.
Maybe five years old.
He had Brian's chin. The same little dent in it.
I swiped.
Mia with the boy on her shoulders, her head thrown back, laughing.
I swiped again.
It was a video.
I turned the volume almost to nothing and pressed play.
"Say cheese, buddy!" That was Liam's voice.
"Cheese!" the boy screamed.
"Good job, Leo," the blonde woman said, and kissed his hair. "Look how tall your big brother is."
"Best big brother in the world," Brian said from behind the camera.
I stopped it on their faces.
All five of them, sunburned and grinning.
A noise came out of me, half a laugh.
I pressed my hand over my mouth.
"Find it?"
Brian's voice was right behind me.
I locked the phone and dropped it on the cushion.
When I turned around he was holding two glasses of red wine.
He gave me the smile. The one from our first date.
"Just his alarm," I said.
He bent and kissed my forehead.
My stomach rolled over. I swallowed until it stopped.
"You're pale," he said. "You okay?"
"Headache."
I took the glass from his left hand.
I held the stem so hard my knuckles went white.
"Sit down for once," he said. "Drink your wine. You do too much."
"Did your bonus come through?" I asked.
I looked straight into his blue eyes.
"Not yet. Why?"
"Liam gets his license next month. I thought maybe a car."
He didn't even blink.
"Next year, maybe. Money's tight right now, Erin. We have to be careful."
"Careful," I said. "There was a dealership charge on the joint account yesterday."
He laughed and waved his hand.
"The truck. Brakes. You know how those guys gouge you."
"Brakes."
"Safety first, right?"
"Right."
I walked past him to the dining room doorway.
Liam was sawing off another slab of beef.
Mia was laughing at something he'd said.
I had carried them both. I had sat up with every fever.
They had spent their summer on a beach with my husband's girlfriend and my husband's son.
For a car.
"How's dinner?" I asked.
"Amazing," Mia said. "Can you make it again next week?"
"Maybe. You two ready for your history projects?"
Liam stopped chewing.
His eyes flicked to mine and away.
"History projects?"
"Aren't they due Monday? Want my help tonight?"
He swallowed. "Oh. No. We finished at school."
"Both of you? Your history teacher gave you a ten-page paper."
"Study hall," Liam said. "Twice this week. Knocked it out."
"We did it together," Mia said. Her knee was jumping under the table.
"Your history teacher lets eleventh and tenth graders partner up?"
Mia blinked. "He made an exception."
"Great," I said. "So you're both free all weekend."
"Totally free," Liam said.
"Funny you say that."
Brian came up beside me and slid his arm around my waist.
He pulled me tight against him. His cologne was too sweet.
"I'm taking the kids camping this weekend," he said.
Mia's fork hit her plate.
"Camping?" she squeaked.
Brian gave her a look. "Up at Silver Lake. Just me and my kids."
"There's no Wi-Fi up there," Liam said, weakly.
"You'll live." Brian squeezed my hip. "You don't mind, do you, babe? You could use a quiet weekend."
"I could come," I said. "We haven't gone as a family in years."
"No," Brian said fast. "You hate the tent. Your back's been killing you."
"You hate bugs, Mom," Liam said. "You'd be miserable."
"And the dirt," Mia said. "Stay home. Relax."
"Dad's got it, Mom," Liam said. "Don't stress."
I tipped my face up to Brian and smiled as wide as I could.
"Go," I said. "The three of you should go."
He let go of me and sat down.
Right away he started talking to Liam about fishing rods neither of them owned.
I stayed in the doorway with the wine in my left hand.
I slid my right hand into my pocket and found my own phone.
I didn't need to look at it.
I opened my messages by feel and found one name.
Sebastian Reed.
He had taken apart a senator's husband in court last spring. He charged a thousand dollars an hour.
Brian lifted his glass at the table.
"To the perfect family," he said.
The kids clinked their water glasses against his.
Inside my pocket I typed a message.
I want Brian bankrupt.
I pressed send.
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