The Wives(76)

Seth’s voice is exasperated, a deep line sliced between his eyebrows. What an actor! Hannah is looking from me to him like she doesn’t know who to believe. I latch on to that, knowing getting her to believe me is the only way to get her away from him.

“No, that’s not the way I remember it.”

He laughs bitterly. “There seems to be quite a lot you’re not remembering,” he says through gritted teeth.

“Why is my name on your house?” I ask. I turn to Hannah. “The house you were living in belongs to me.”

Hannah turns her face away, but Seth’s eyes bug.

“Because it’s your house, Thursday! Your grandmother left it to you.”

“No!” I scream. But somewhere, deep in my mind, I know it’s true. I’d already owned the condo when my grandmother passed away, and I’d offered Seth use of the house while he commuted back and forth from Portland to Seattle. He told me he’d do the renovations I wanted for free, in exchange for staying there while in Portland. A cry escapes my throat. I lift my hand to my neck. My breath is coming out in jagged gasps. How had I not known it was my house—my grandmother’s? Hannah had given me a tour and I’d followed her around the rooms like a stranger.

“Your estate manager put it up for rent,” he says.

I hate the way he’s looking at me: pity and disgust mar his features.

“You’re crazy,” he says. It’s dismissive, a shake of his head. He’s glad to be done with me, he sees me as something to get rid of; he always has.

“No, I’m not.” I’m shivering so hard I can hear my teeth rattle.

He laughs as I stare at him. “Of course you are. You’ve always been crazy. You were obsessed with my ex-wife, just like you’re obsessed with Hannah. We were a mistake, Thursday, that’s all. I liked fucking you, are you hearing me? That’s all you were to me.”

He turns to Hannah just as I grip the side of the sofa with one of my hands. The pain is frightening; I can feel it in my toes...my chest...my eyes.

“Baby,” he says to her, “I made a mistake. Please...”

“Why didn’t you tell me it was her house?” Hannah is backing away slowly, shaking her head.

“I was going to...after I ended it with Thursday. I didn’t want to upset you. The baby... Please, Hannah, it was all a mistake. I’m so sorry.” He’s been caught in another lie. I take a hopeful step toward Hannah and Seth screams at me. “Don’t you come near her!”

“A mistake with what?” I scream. “I’m your wife!”

The room goes quiet as both Seth and Hannah stare at me in horror.

“No, Thursday,” I hear from behind me. “You’re his mistress.”

I freeze, my blood running cold. Turning around, I see Regina standing in the doorway, her purse slung over her shoulder as she looks around uncertainly. Our eyes meet for a second before she locates Hannah crying near the kitchen. She steps inside.

“You were his mistress and you offered to let him live in your house with his new wife.”

“That’s not true.” But it is true. I remember now. When Seth married Hannah, my renters had just moved out; the house was open. I’d offered it to them. I thought it would buy me favor with Seth; I’d be the giving, selfless wife. I stare at Regina, tears filling my eyes.

“You were the reason our marriage ended,” she says. “You had an affair with Seth.”

I hear roaring in my ears. The tips of my fingers tingle.

“Regina told me everything, Thursday,” Seth says. “That you came to her office pretending to be someone else, and that you forced your way into her home. Your crazy theories about how I caused your miscarriage, and how you insisted my parents are alive...”

“You told me your parents were alive! They didn’t come to our wedding—you said it was because your father was in the hospital...”

“No,” he says, shaking his head slowly. “That’s why they didn’t come to my wedding with Regina. I told you that story.”

“No.”

“Yes, Thursday. Oh my God, oh my God,” he says.

When Regina looks at me there is nothing on her face; it’s been wiped of expression. I stare at her and she stares back.

“Why would you do this?” I ask.

“Everyone all right?” she asks, looking from Seth to Hannah.

“Regina—” I say.

She cuts me off. “She left a message on my phone. Said she was coming here. I didn’t know... I was worried.”

A chill washes over me; it starts at the back of my neck and creeps down my body like an invisible hand. I try to catch her eye. What is she doing? Surely she came here to back me up. I want to ask her what’s going on, why she won’t look at me, but my tongue is glued to the roof of my mouth and my heart pounds steadily.

“I called the police,” she says to me. “I told them you were coming here with the intent to harm Seth or Hannah, that you’d threatened to do so.”

My whole body is trembling now. It’s a setup, it was all a setup. When she’d told me she’d found out where Hannah was, I’d been too preoccupied to ask her how. She’d known all along where they were, and I’d played right into her hand.