Emily looked at me for a long time.<\/p>\n
I could see that she was trying to decide what to say.<\/p>\n
I didn't interrupt her.<\/p>\n
I had already asked too many questions.<\/p>\n
I wanted her to speak when she was ready.<\/p>\n
Finally, she took a breath.<\/p>\n
"I knew Daniel before you met him."<\/p>\n
I nodded.<\/p>\n
She had already told me that.<\/p>\n
But I knew there was more.<\/p>\n
I waited.<\/p>\n
She looked down at the papers.<\/p>\n
"I knew him before he became your husband."<\/p>\n
I felt a strange heaviness in my chest.<\/p>\n
I had never thought of Daniel as someone with a separate life that might affect mine.<\/p>\n
He had been my husband.<\/p>\n
The man I had shared my home with.<\/p>\n
The man I had trusted.<\/p>\n
But now I was beginning to understand that there had been parts of his life I had never known.<\/p>\n
I looked at Emily.<\/p>\n
"What does that have to do with the money?"<\/p>\n
She lowered her eyes.<\/p>\n
"I don't know everything."<\/p>\n
I felt my frustration rise again.<\/p>\n
"Then tell me what you do know."<\/p>\n
She nodded.<\/p>\n
"I will."<\/p>\n
I looked at the envelope.<\/p>\n
The papers were still there.<\/p>\n
The address.<\/p>\n
The account.<\/p>\n
The payments.<\/p>\n
I knew they were connected.<\/p>\n
I just didn't know how.<\/p>\n
Emily seemed to understand that I was waiting for something more.<\/p>\n
She took another breath.<\/p>\n
"When I found the records, I realized that the payments had been going on for a long time."<\/p>\n
I looked at her.<\/p>\n
"How long?"<\/p>\n
She shook her head.<\/p>\n
"I don't know exactly."<\/p>\n
I waited.<\/p>\n
"But it was before you and Daniel got married."<\/p>\n
I felt my stomach tighten.<\/p>\n
Before our wedding.<\/p>\n
Before I had promised to spend my life with him.<\/p>\n
Before I had believed that I knew everything important about him.<\/p>\n
I looked down at the papers again.<\/p>\n
I couldn't stop thinking about the house.<\/p>\n
The old address.<\/p>\n
The place where Daniel and I had lived.<\/p>\n
I had always thought of it as the beginning of our life together.<\/p>\n
Now I was wondering what had happened there before I arrived.<\/p>\n
I looked at Emily.<\/p>\n
"Why didn't you tell me when you found the records?"<\/p>\n
She lowered her eyes.<\/p>\n
"I was afraid."<\/p>\n
I waited.<\/p>\n
"Afraid of losing you."<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
I didn't know what to say.<\/p>\n
I had spent thirty-seven years believing that our friendship could survive anything.<\/p>\n
But now I was beginning to understand that trust could be damaged in ways I had never imagined.<\/p>\n
I looked at the photograph on my phone.<\/p>\n
The one we had taken the day before.<\/p>\n
I remembered how happy I had been when Emily suggested the trip.<\/p>\n
I remembered how much I had needed her.<\/p>\n
And I remembered the way she had looked at me when she asked for that final picture.<\/p>\n
I had thought she was saying goodbye.<\/p>\n
Now I understood that she had been trying to tell me something.<\/p>\n
I looked at her.<\/p>\n
"Is that why you called it our last photograph?"<\/p>\n
Emily nodded.<\/p>\n
I felt a strange sadness.<\/p>\n
Not because I knew what was coming.<\/p>\n
Because I didn't.<\/p>\n
I had no idea what the truth would mean for my marriage.<\/p>\n
I had no idea what it would mean for my friendship.<\/p>\n
And I had no idea how much of my life I would have to reconsider.<\/p>\n
I looked at the papers one more time.<\/p>\n
The address was still there.<\/p>\n
The same house.<\/p>\n
The same place where Daniel and I had once begun our life together.<\/p>\n
I knew that whatever happened next, I would never look at that house the same way again.<\/p>\n
Source: kaylestore.net<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n
\nThe End<\/strong><\/h2>\n