“It’s okay.”
I held on to the bed rail to steady myself.
“She’s my mother-in-law, legally.”
Leo looked up at me, his eyes filled with a complex mix of emotions. In the ICU, we stood outside the glass looking at his mother, hooked up to a dozen machines. She was unconscious, her breathing shallow.
“They say it could be any day now,” Leo whispered.
I took his hand. It was ice-cold and trembling.
“She should think you’re happy,” I said.
“What?”
“She should believe the story that we’re happy.”
I looked at him.
“In her last moments, letting her see her son settled and in love is better than her knowing the truth, right?”
He squeezed my hand hard. That night, his mother regained consciousness for a short while. We scrubbed in and went into her room. She couldn’t speak, but she looked at us. Her eyes filled with peace. Her gaze drifted down to my stomach, a look of hopeful longing on her face. A pang of guilt and sorrow shot through me. After we left the room, Leo said,
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me,” I said, staring out at the dark sky. “To be honest, I’m a little jealous of you.”
“Jealous of what?”
“At least your mom truly loves you. All she wants is for you to be happy. My mom… she’s more concerned with appearances.”
He was quiet for a moment.
“When your mom truly accepts us, things will get better.”
Us. The word sounded so natural, as if we were a real couple. The next day, Leo’s mother passed away peacefully in her sleep. Leo was consumed with funeral arrangements. I was forced by the doctors to remain in the hospital to protect the pregnancy. Maya continued to dig into Rick’s dealings, but it was slow going. Alex sent a few more apologetic texts, which I deleted without reading. A week later, I was discharged. Leo, having handled the funeral, looked thinner and worn out, but he was calm.
“This was my mother’s,” he said, handing me a beautiful jade bracelet. “It’s the Sterling family heirloom for the woman who marries into the family. She wanted to give it to you at our wedding.”
I took the bracelet, my heart heavy.
“And this.”
He produced a document.
“Her will. She left us the old family house.”
“That’s too much. I can’t accept it,” I said, trying to give it back.
“Please take it. It was her wish,” he insisted. “Besides, we’re husband and wife. It’s legally community property.”
Husband and wife. There was that phrase again. That weekend, we went to clear out his mother’s house. In an old photo album, I found pictures of Leo as a child and several with a pretty smiling girl.
“Jessica?” I asked.
He nodded, closing the album.
“That was a long time ago.”
In the back of a drawer, I found an envelope addressed to Leo and Chloe. Inside were two letters, one for him, one for me. My letter read: Chloe, my dear daughter-in-law, by the time you read this, I’ll likely be gone. Don’t be sad. I was sick for a long time, and this is a release. My biggest worry in life was always Leo. His father died young, and I raised him alone. I was so proud to see him build his business, and all I wanted was for him to find a family. Now that he has you, I am truly happy. Leo can be stubborn and he keeps things bottled up. Please be patient with him. Take care of each other. Live well and give me a grandchild to smile about from heaven. Love, Mom. I finished the letter with tears streaming down my face. Even though she knew our marriage was a fiction, this kind woman had offered me her genuine heart. That night, back at my place, Leo handed me a box.
“For you.”
Inside was a new phone.
“Your old one might be compromised. This one is secure,” he said.
“How did you know?” I asked, surprised.
“A guy like Rick, if he’s willing to frame you, he’s willing to use dirtier tricks,” he said calmly. “I had a friend look into it. He’s been in contact with a private investigator.”
A chill went down my spine, and he hesitated.
“I found a secret bank account of his. A large sum of money was deposited into it recently from an offshore account.”
“Can you prove he leaked the files?”
“Not yet, but it’s a start.”
He looked me in the eye, his expression serious.
“Chloe, I want to make you a deal.”
“What deal?”
“You helped me with my family. Now I’ll help you with your job,” he said. “When this is all over, if you still want a divorce, I will respect your decision.”
“And if I don’t?” I whispered.
He was taken aback for a second. Then a faint smile touched his lips.
“Then we’ll keep going.”
Just then, my new phone rang. It was Maya.
“Chloe, I’ve got it,” she said, her voice electric with excitement. “My friend recovered Rick’s deleted computer logs. We have proof he leaked the files.”
She took a breath.
“And guess who was pulling the strings behind him?”
“Who?”
“Alex.”
I felt like I’d been struck by lightning.
“Alex promised Rick a VP position at his company if he helped,” Maya said, her voice shaking with rage. “They were in it together. They didn’t just want to ruin your career. They planned to take over the Blue Sky account after our company was discredited.”
I gripped the phone, my knuckles white. Leo watched me, his expression grim.
“And there’s more,” Maya continued. “It sounds like they were planning something else. Alex let something slip to a mutual friend. Something about how if I can’t have her, I’ll destroy her.”
At that exact moment, there was a frantic pounding on the door. A familiar voice, slurred with alcohol, yelled from the hallway,
“Chloe, I know you’re in there. Open the door. If you don’t open this door, I’ll tell the whole building what kind of person you are.”
It was Alex. I looked at Leo, a terrible premonition washing over me. What else was Alex hiding? What did he mean by destroy? The pounding grew heavier, Alex’s shouts echoing down the hall. Leo motioned for me to stay quiet, then walked to the door. Looking through the peephole, he saw Alex swaying, a bottle of whiskey in his hand.
“Chloe, open up,” he bellowed. “If you don’t, I’ll tell everyone about the dirty little things you did at the office to get ahead.”
Leo quietly unlocked the deadbolt and yanked the door open. Alex, who had been leaning against it, stumbled into the apartment.
“You,” he stammered, seeing Leo.
