PART 10: After I gave birth to our triplets, my husband walked into my hospital room with his mistress at his side, proudly carrying a luxury bag. 14009
She was not asking to become my friend. She was not pretending innocence. She had helped Kenneth deceive me, enjoyed being chosen, and only began questioning him when his lies threatened to trap her as well.
People were rarely only one thing.
That truth was more difficult than hatred.
Hatred would have been simple.
Priya reviewed the documents while Brenda and I sat in silence.
At last, Brenda reached for the folder again.
“One file on Kenneth’s computer was different from the others,” she said. “It was hidden inside an archive of old business records.”
She placed a photograph on the table.
The image showed twelve people standing beneath a banner at a company retreat. The photograph was faded, but the logo behind them was clear.
BENNETT RESIDENTIAL.
My father’s company.
A younger version of my father stood in the center, wearing a blue shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows.
Three people to his left stood Kenneth.
He looked barely thirty. His hair was longer, and his face was thinner, but there was no mistaking him.
I picked up the photograph.
“That’s impossible.”
“I thought so too,” Brenda said.
“Kenneth told me he met my parents after we started dating.”
Brenda slid another page toward me.
It was an employee profile.
The photograph in the corner belonged to Kenneth.
But the name beneath it did not.
KENNETH HALE
JUNIOR ACQUISITIONS ANALYST
BENNETT RESIDENTIAL
2013–2014
My fingers went cold.
Howard was supposedly Kenneth’s family name. It appeared on our marriage certificate, the babies’ birth records, and every document I had ever seen.
“Where did you get this?”
“From his private files.”
Priya took the employee profile and examined it.
“Was there anything explaining why he used another surname?”
“Only a termination reference and several missing attachments.”
“Termination?” I repeated.
Brenda nodded.
May you like
“The file said his employment ended after an internal review.”
My father had not merely distrusted Kenneth.
