The Wife Stalker(83)

And then that Friday last year, when Leo told me that she and Evie had gone to Maine for the weekend, I panicked. What if she was going to kill Evie and herself? I had to protect that sweet little girl. If Olivia wasn’t going to help herself, it was time that I did.

I got to the house late, after eleven, and Evie was asleep. Olivia looked surprised to see me, but she welcomed me in and we went into the kitchen to talk. She said she thought the getaway would help, but she still felt dead inside. I begged her to get help, but she said she’d get through it. We started to argue and moved outside to the deck. We thought Evie was still asleep, but she must have heard us when we were still in the house and then sneaked outside to listen. I told Olivia that she wasn’t being a good mother, that if she loved the kids and Leo, she’d go see someone, get medication. She started yelling at me then. Saying I had no right to talk to her that way. She said I was the help, not her friend. I screamed back at her, telling her about how my mother’s illness and depression had ruined my childhood, and that she was going to do the same to her own kids. Her eyes blazed with an intensity bordering on insanity, and she ran away from me then, toward the cliffs.

She turned back to me and yelled: “Maybe I’ll just jump. End it all now. Then I won’t be around to ruin my children’s lives.” In her eyes was a dare, and I knew then that she needed my help. She wanted to do it. She just didn’t have the nerve. So I took a few strides forward and pushed her, watching as she fell like a rag doll, not making a sound, until she hit the jagged rocks below. That was the moment I became their mother, and when Leo got over his grieving, I would be his wife. I wouldn’t stay in bed all day or shirk my responsibilities. I would take care of them like they deserved.

I went back to the house, peeked in on a sleeping Evie, and then composed the note that Leo found. Writing as Olivia, I tried to make him understand that I had left to make his life better, and that I didn’t want the children to lose the Maine house—they loved it there. I implored Leo not to sell it.

Everything would have all been fine if Piper had just stayed away.

You may think I’m crazy. I’m not. I know that Evie and Stelli weren’t born to me, that they’re not my biological children. But they are mine, spiritually—no one else could understand so well what they went through. I was always meant to be their mother, and they were always meant to be my children. Their birth mother hadn’t been able to live up to her responsibilities. But I could. I had to. When Olivia died, it was crystal clear that Leo and the children had always been my destiny.

I helped him pick up the pieces after Olivia was gone. I was happy to do it. Looking back, I can see I should have given him more time to realize what I already knew—that we were destined to be together. He was still grieving Olivia, and I moved too fast.

Not physically, of course. I knew that we had to wait before making love until he was completely over Olivia and could come to me wholeheartedly. But I didn’t think he’d mind if I rearranged the kitchen and some of the furniture. Olivia was not organized, and things needed to be more efficient. I organized the house for him, helped with the kids’ rooms. And the children loved me, and I loved them. Then he started talking about boundaries. Said I was getting too involved. I did my best to respect his boundaries, knowing that eventually they’d disappear. But then he met Piper.

He got upset whenever I mentioned her, and eventually he told me it was best if I resigned, offering me two years’ severance and a $250,000 lump sum. I took his money because I needed it. Of course, I realized only later that he must have been afraid I’d sue him for sexual harassment, since he’d allowed me to stay at his house. After the police accused me of child abuse when I’d only been trying to keep Stelli safe, Leo got a restraining order against me.

I always knew that Piper’s intention was to hurt them, and I still think she will. Maybe she took a bullet for Stelli, but it was all for show. She’ll never be their mother. I’ll wait for as long as it takes.

My mother called to tell me she’d come see me in jail, but I told her not to bother. The only good thing about being here is that I don’t have to feel guilty about not taking care of her anymore. No more cooking and cleaning up after her, trying to cheer her up. I had lived in her dreary, cramped house all my life, but now I wouldn’t end up like that pitiful woman in the obituary I read, the one who took care of her mother until she died. Despite the fact that I was in a locked cell, I felt free for the first time in years.

The last person I had to settle the score with was Celeste. She’d be happy to know that I was no longer obsessing about Piper. But she wouldn’t be happy to hear the rest of what I had to say. I’d heard from my attorney that Celeste’s license had been suspended and her office temporarily closed. I asked him to arrange for her to visit me. At first, she refused; then I told him to tell her that I knew who had leaked her files on her Facebook page, and suddenly she was ready to meet.

She would be here any minute. Finally, the guard opened the door and she walked in. Her appearance was shocking. She was disheveled, her face pale and devoid of makeup, and she had dark circles under her eyes.

“Hello, Celeste.” My voice was cold.

She sat across from me and shook her head. “What have you done?”

“I’m sure you’re up to speed on why I’m here. Maybe if you’d been a better therapist . . .”