The Wife He Buried Alive novel · Chapter 22 of 32

Chapter 22: Winston's POV

Winston's POV

My mother stood by her stove with a wooden spoon in one hand, and for the first time in my life I could not see her face.

I saw my mother, and I saw a woman I had never met, and they were standing in the same place.

"Say it to me," I said.

"Say what, darling?"

"What you told her. Say it again where I can hear it."

"I told your wife that you were never meant to be in that car."

"You cut the brake line."

"I made a small cut," she said. "I've explained that."

Linnea stood against the counter with her hand at her throat, white to the lips.

I wanted to go to her.

I could not take my eyes off my mother.

"Five years," I said. "The calls. Every anniversary. You told her to ring me."

"I told Juliet that you needed reminding who loved you."

"And I went."

"Yes. You went. Each time, you went." She nodded, with a kind of pride. "You are such a good son."

"Don't."

"You were always the one who came when I called, Winston. Ever since you were a boy."

I put my hand on the door frame, because the floor was not steady.

"I stood at that curb," I said. "I left her in the car."

"You did."

"I've spent four years thinking that was my fault."

"It was."

She said it quietly, and she meant it.

"You chose to get out," she said. "A man who loved his wife would have said no to that girl. Not once, but five times. Do you see? I only opened the door. You walked through it every time."

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