“He kept finding reasons to text me.”
“Questions about you.”
“Questions about the children.”
“Questions about our family.”
“I never imagined…”
Her voice cracked.
“I never imagined he was grooming me.”
The word hit me hard.
Grooming.
Until that moment, I had never considered it.
—
“He told me you were unhappy.”
“He said your marriage had been over for years.”
“He said the two of you stayed together only because of Emma and Joshua.”
I shook my head.
“That’s not true.”
“I know that now.”
“He said you were already seeing someone else.”
“What?”
She nodded.
“He told me you were planning to leave him.”
I felt physically sick.
Every story he had told her…
Was a lie.
—
“When did everything change?” I asked quietly.
Lily closed her eyes.
“There was a family barbecue.”
I remembered it immediately.
Last summer.
Everyone had been there.
“He offered to drive me home.”
I remembered thanking him for doing it.
“He kissed me.”
I couldn’t speak.
“I pushed him away.”
