PART 5 – I Had Spent My Life Believing I Knew the Man I Married, but the Address on Those Papers Told Me Otherwise

I couldn't stop looking at the address.

It was the same house.

The same place where Daniel and I had lived before we moved.

I had spent years thinking about that house as the beginning of our life together.

Now I was wondering what had happened there before I arrived.

Emily sat quietly across from me.

The envelope lay between us.

I could hear the soft sound of the air conditioner.

Neither of us seemed to know what to say next.

I wanted to ask her everything.

But I didn't even know where to begin.

"Who was the person living there?"

Emily looked down at her hands.

"I don't know how to explain it."

I felt my anger return.

"You've known me for thirty-seven years. You can't keep saying that."

She nodded.

"I know."

I looked at the papers again.

The bank statements were still spread across the table.

I picked up the first one and examined the date.

Then I looked at the next.

The payments had continued for years.

I couldn't understand why Daniel would have sent money to someone without telling me.

I couldn't understand why Emily had kept the records.

And I couldn't understand why she had waited until now to show them to me.

I felt as though I had been dropped into the middle of a story that everyone else already knew.

Except me.

I looked at Emily.

"Did Daniel ever tell you about this?"

She shook her head.

"No."

"Did you ever ask him?"

She hesitated.

Then she said, "I didn't know what I was looking at until after he died."

I tried to believe her.

I wanted to believe her.

But there was still something I couldn't accept.

She had known enough to bring the documents to me.

She had known enough to call our photograph the last one we would take as best friends.

And she had known enough to tell me that I would discover who she really was in my life.

I looked at her.

"Why did you say that yesterday?"

Emily closed her eyes.

"Because I knew you would be angry."

I waited.

"And I knew you would have questions."

I looked at the envelope.

"I already have questions."

She nodded.

"I know."

I wanted her to say more.

I wanted her to tell me what she had been hiding.

But she seemed unable to continue.

I stood up and walked toward the window.

The ocean was still there.

The same water we had watched the afternoon before.

The same place where Emily had asked me for that photograph.

I remembered the way she had held her sunglasses.

I remembered the trembling in her hand.

At the time, I thought she was afraid of losing our friendship.

Now I wondered whether she had been afraid of what I would discover.

I turned back toward her.

"Did you know Daniel before I did?"

Emily looked at me.

For a moment, she didn't answer.

Then she said, "Yes."

I felt my stomach tighten.

"How?"

She lowered her eyes.

"We knew each other before you met him."

I stood still.

I had known Emily since we were children.

But I had never known that she had known Daniel before me.

I tried to remember every time she had mentioned him.

Every time she had visited our house.

Every time she had spoken to him as though they were old friends.

I had never questioned any of it.

I had never thought there was a reason to.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

She looked up.

"I was afraid."

"Afraid of what?"

She didn't answer.

I sat down again.

The papers were still in front of me.

I picked up the final page.

The address was printed clearly.

I could see the name of the street.

I could see the number of the house.

I could picture the front door.

And I knew that whatever had happened there, I had been living with the consequences without knowing it.

I looked at Emily.

"I need you to tell me everything you know."

She took a deep breath.

Then she began.

Source: kaylestore.net

Click here to continue reading: PART 6: The Questions I Had Never Asked My Best Friend Were Suddenly the Only Ones I Could Think About