Lies Behind the Perfect Marriage

The car crash three years ago derailed my entire existence.

My mother passed away on the spot from a stress-induced heart attack. I lost my unborn baby.

I was stripped of the PhD I was months away from earning. Overnight, I plummeted from a promising academic with a bright future to a convicted felon.

It was not until today, the day of my release, that Victor dropped a bomb that shattered my reality.

He picked me up from the prison gates and calmly confessed that I was never the one behind the wheel that night.

He had drugged my drink, knocked me out cold, and dragged my unconscious body into the driver's seat to take the fall for Daisy.

He claimed Daisy had just gotten accepted into college and he could not let a DUI destroy her bright future.

He actually had the nerve to say that since I had sponsored Daisy's education for years, I surely would not have wanted to see her life ruined either.

My mind went entirely blank. All the blood drained from my face until I looked like a drowned corpse.

So in his eyes, my mother's life, my baby, and my entire future were worth less than Daisy's precious potential.

"Pull over."

My voice was a violent tremor, sounding more like a pathetic whimper. I could not share the same oxygen as him for another second.

But the luxury sedan kept cruising down the highway. Victor barely glanced at me as he laid out the real reason he came to get me.

"Daisy and I had a baby. Today is his first birthday party. I need you to show up and pretend to be his mother."

My hand, which had been clawing blindly at the door handle, froze mid-air. I stared at him, feeling like a grotesque clown.

"Why..." The word slipped out, weak and broken.

Victor's face softened into something resembling pity. He let out a heavy sigh.

"Audrey, I am a man. You were locked up for three years. I have physical needs."

"So you slept with the girl I treated like a little sister. And then you locked me in a cage."

I forced myself to look at him. Boiling tears threatened to spill over my eyelashes.

Victor's eyes darkened, his tone shifting back to cold steel.

"You are a thirty-year-old ex-con. I have been paying for your father's medical bills the whole time you were inside. You have absolutely no right to question me."

The tears finally broke free. This nightmare was entirely his doing.

If he had not drugged me, I never would have believed I committed the crime.

He was the one who held me in the interrogation room, crying and swearing on his life.

"Do not be scared, Audrey. I will wait for you. You are the only wife I will ever have."

During the thousand nights I spent shivering on a hard cot, surviving the humiliation of prison, he was busy playing house with another woman.

"Audrey! Welcome home!"

By the time I registered my surroundings, Victor had dragged me up the steps to my own house.

Daisy immediately shoved a squirming baby into my arms, flashing a sickeningly sweet smile.

"The guests are already here. Let's go inside."

She was directing me around my own home, acting like the lady of the manor.

Moving like a reanimated corpse, I walked into the grand living room.

Instantly, a dozen pairs of eyes locked onto me.

Shock. Pity. Pure disgust.

I had not even taken three steps before the vicious whispers started.

"That is her. The drunk driver who killed someone. I cannot believe she has the nerve to show her face."

"She has zero shame. Everyone knows Noah is not her kid. How can she wear those horns so proudly?"

"What else is she going to do? You think an ex-con has the guts to cause a scene?"

They exchanged knowing smirks and let out low, mocking laughs.

It felt like walking on broken glass. Every step left me bleeding invisibly.

In that room, I was nothing but a pathetic punchline.

Noticing my arms shaking violently, Daisy reached out to take the baby.

But the millisecond her fingers grazed the blanket, the infant let out a bloodcurdling scream.

Daisy's eyes instantly welled with tears. She violently snatched the boy out of my grip, looking at me like I was a literal monster.

"Audrey, I know you hate the fact that Noah is here, but you cannot pinch him! He is just a baby!"

My arms were still frozen in the air. I stared at her, utterly paralyzed by the sheer audacity of her lie.

I took a step forward to defend myself.

Before I could even speak, a massive force slammed into the side of my face.

The room spun violently.

I crashed hard onto the marble floor, my cheek burning like it had been held to a hot stove.

"You sick psycho! Taking your anger out on an infant!"

Victor stood over me, his face purple with rage, glaring at me with absolute revulsion.

He pointed to a faint red mark on the baby's thigh.

Looking at it, a hysterical, broken laugh ripped from my throat.

"My hands were literally holding his back the entire time. How could I..."

"Shut up. I am sick of your lies."

Victor cut me off with the precision of a knife. He scooped the crying baby out of Daisy's arms and stormed upstairs.

Victor's relatives immediately swarmed me like vultures.

"Since you are out, keep your head down. You are an old woman with a criminal record. Stop causing drama."

"Victor was gracious enough to let you back into this house. Get on your knees and be grateful!"

"Grateful?"

I dragged myself off the floor, using the wall for support. My cheek was throbbing, but I was laughing so hard tears streamed down my face.

"You think he is a good man? Do you have any idea that he was the one who put me in..."

"Audrey!"

Victor thundered from the top of the stairs, silencing me instantly.

He marched down, grabbed my arm with bruising force, and plastered on a fake smile to usher the guests out the door.

Once the heavy oak door clicked shut, he turned to me. His eyes were devoid of humanity.

"I put you in that cell once. I can easily do it again."

"Noah needs a mother on paper. And you are not going to ruin my family."

The tears on my face felt absurd.

I looked at my legally wedded husband, a man burning the world down to protect his mistress's child. I smiled bitterly.

"Your family?"

"Victor. Who exactly is your wife?"

"Do you even remember the baby I was carrying?"

During the trial, I was the monster. The drunk driver.

I sat at the defense table, head bowed, weeping in shame.

Suddenly, a relative of the victim bypassed security and lunged at me with a fist.

But Victor did not shield me. He threw his body over Daisy, who was sitting safely behind the railing.

I took the hit. I bled out on the courtroom floor.

As the paramedics loaded me onto the stretcher, my husband simply covered Daisy's eyes.

"Do not look. It is disgusting. You will get sick."

At that moment, I wanted to die. I wanted to fade away with the child I had just lost.

"Audrey, it is all my fault. Blame me. I stole your life."

Daisy fell to her knees, sobbing hysterically, her body shaking as she begged for my forgiveness.

Looking down at her, reality seemed to glitch.

Suddenly, the bizarre feeling I had when I first walked in the door made perfect sense.

Daisy was wearing my vintage diamond necklace. Her hair was styled in the exact French twist I wore to every gala.

From head to toe, she had meticulously cloned herself to look exactly like me.

She did not just want my husband. She had been planning to steal my identity for years.

Years ago, when her mother died, I took her in out of pity. I gave her a room. One day, I caught her digging through my closet, wearing one of my custom dresses.

It hung loosely on her frame. The cut was entirely wrong for her body.

But she was staring at herself in the mirror, completely mesmerized.

I had gently called out to her. "Daisy, we can buy you clothes that actually fit your style."

She gripped the fabric tighter, whispering something to her reflection.

I had not heard it then.

But I knew what it was now.

"Whatever is yours, is the best."

"Audrey, you have every right to hit me. Hit me!"

Daisy stared up at me through a veil of tears, looking like a shattered angel seeking redemption.

I let out a soft laugh. Then I laughed harder, doubling over until my ribs ached.

She watched me, her facade slipping into genuine annoyance, thinking I had actually lost my mind.

I abruptly killed the laugh and stared dead into her eyes.

"Daisy, do you not feel sick to your stomach?"

She flinched, a flash of irritation crossing her face.

Before she could open her mouth, I leaned down and finished my thought.

"Your mother was driven to suicide by a homewrecker. And here you are, doing the exact same thing to me. If she were watching from hell, she would probably crawl back up just to strangle you."

All the color vanished from her face. She froze, the perfectly constructed victim routine shattering into a million pieces.

She was no longer the one in control.

Victor's face hardened. He stepped protectively in front of her.

"Audrey, you are crossing a line. I told you, this was all my fault. You should be mad at..."

Smack.

I swung my arm with everything I had and slapped him dead across the jaw.

I finished his sentence for him.

"Oh, I know it is your fault."

The veins in Victor's neck bulged. He grabbed Daisy, who was lunging forward to claw my eyes out, and threw her behind him.

He glared at me, panting heavily.

"What do you want? Money? Real estate? Sign the divorce papers, and name your price."

My ears started ringing. I suddenly saw him as he was eight years ago.

A broke college kid, kneeling on the worn carpet in my parents' living room, refusing to get up.

"Please let me marry her. You took care of her for the first half of her life. Let me protect her for the rest of it. If I break this vow, let lightning strike me dead."

Now, he could not even stand to look at my face. I was just a stain he needed to bleach out of his life.

There was no point in holding back.

"Fine. I want every single property in your name, and fifty percent of your liquid assets."

Daisy gasped, grabbing Victor's arm in sheer panic, terrified he might actually agree.

Victor paused. He looked almost surprised that I had caved so easily.

He stared at me for a long minute, then nodded.

"Done."

Daisy's teeth audibly ground together. She dragged him into the hallway.

A muffled, vicious argument erupted. A few minutes later, Daisy stormed back into the room, her face twisted with fury.

"You think you deserve that kind of payout? What the hell are you going to do with all those houses? Have you no shame? You are going to throw a baby out onto the street?!"

I shoved past her and walked into the master bedroom.

I dragged my old suitcase out of the closet and started tossing my jewelry boxes inside.

Daisy's eyes were bloodshot. She stood in the doorway, hurling every insult she could think of. I completely ignored her.

Suddenly, her ranting stopped. A twisted, psychotic smile spread across her face.

"Hey Audrey. Do you know how your mother really died?"

My hands stopped moving. I slowly turned to face her.

A wave of sick satisfaction washed over her face. She had finally found the knife to twist.

"The day after you went to prison, your mom walked into the bedroom and caught Victor and me in bed. The shock literally stopped her heart."

A deafening roar filled my head. It felt like someone had driven a spike right through my chest.

Daisy was still smiling.

"She collapsed right there on the rug. She was gasping for air, rolling around in agony. Honestly, if I had just picked up the phone and called an ambulance, she would have made it."

"But she looked at me with this absolute disgust. Like I was trash. So I just..."

My vision went completely red.

I launched myself across the room, tackling her to the hardwood floor.

I pinned her down and rained fists onto her face.

Daisy shrieked, a high-pitched, terrified wail.

"Get off me! Help! Help me!"

Blood burst from her nose. Her perfect skin began bruising purple and black. I wrapped both hands around her throat and squeezed tight.

"Die."

"Audrey!"

A thunderous voice shattered the chaos.

A pair of hands grabbed my shoulders and violently hurled me backward.

I crashed into the bedside table.

Victor stood over me, his chest heaving, looking at me with pure, unadulterated hatred.

"Get the hell out of my house! I actually felt bad for you! I wanted to compensate you, but you are just a violent psychopath! You do not deserve a damn thing!"

He grabbed me by the back of my collar and physically dragged me down the stairs, throwing me out the front door.

It was pouring rain outside. Within seconds, the freezing downpour soaked me to the bone.

Through the massive glass window, I saw Daisy standing inside, wrapped in a cashmere throw, smiling as she watched me shivering like a stray dog.

Blind rage took over. I screamed into the rain, reaching for my pockets to call the cops, only to realize I did not even have my phone.

Rain mixed with the blood and tears on my face.

The world tilted, went black, and I hit the pavement.

When I opened my eyes, I was staring at a sterile hospital ceiling.

Between severe malnutrition and the intense emotional trauma, my body had shut down. An ambulance had brought me in.

Whether out of guilt or paranoia, Victor showed up at my room every single day.

Even though I refused to look at him or speak a single word, he kept coming.

"I wired half a million dollars to your account. I feel terrible about what happened to your mother, which is why I have been paying for your father's care."

"Audrey, let's just sign the papers and walk away."

"Walk away?"

Victor froze. He slowly met my dead, hollow stare.

I let out a dry scoff. My voice was colder than the IV fluid dripping into my veins.

"You think half a million dollars erases three years in a concrete box? You framed me to protect your mistress. You murdered my mother. You killed my baby. That is three lives."

"Before you locked me up, I was making six figures. Do the math, Victor. Figure out exactly how much blood money you owe me."

"Pay up, or I will drag you down to hell with me."

The room fell into a suffocating silence.

Victor frowned. After a long minute, a dark, calculating look flashed in his eyes.

"Fine."

"You will have another million and a half in three days. Once the wire clears, this is over."

He turned and walked out.

The moment the door clicked shut, I reached under my pillow and clicked off the digital voice recorder.

Then, I dialed the one number I knew by heart. The man who had been waiting for this call.

"Three years ago, I made a mistake. I shouldn't have left you. The favor you offered... is it still on the table?"

The text back was instantaneous.

Always.

The day I was discharged, the wire transfer cleared. One point five million.

A few hours later, my phone buzzed. It was a text from Daisy.

She asked if I wanted to come pick up a box of my mother's remaining belongings.

I knew it was bait. But I called a cab and went anyway.

The second I stepped into the living room, Daisy dropped to her knees, her eyes swollen from crying.

"Audrey, I am so sorry. Everything is my fault. But Noah did not do anything wrong! He is my entire world. Please, just tell me where he is. Give him back, I am begging you!"

She slammed her forehead against the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.

Every alarm bell in my head went off. This was a setup.

I spun around to sprint out the door, only to crash directly into Victor's chest.

He was hyperventilating, his face ashen, looking like a demon crawling out of a nightmare.

"Where is my son?! Where the hell did you hide him?! I gave you the money! Why won't you let this go?!"

My chest heaved in panic. I backed away, shaking my head.

"I did not take him! Look at the security cameras! Call the police!"

Daisy lunged forward and slapped me across the face.

Her scream was deafening.

"Give him back! If you want someone to die, take me! I will die for him!"

She yanked a small kitchen knife from her pocket and pressed the blade against her own throat.

Victor's eyes practically bulged out of his skull. He slapped the knife out of her hand.

When he looked back at me, his eyes were dead.

I stumbled backward, turning to run for the side door. Victor moved faster.

He clamped a hand over my mouth, dragged me into the garage, and threw me into the trunk of his SUV.

He bound my wrists with zip ties.

I thrashed against the floorboards, screaming through his hand, asking what he was doing.

Victor grabbed a fistful of my hair, yanking my head back. He spoke slowly, emphasizing every word.

"You always hated the sick bastards who hurt women, right? Let's see how much you hate them when I dump you in a remote, off-the-grid cabin where no one will ever hear you scream. You are going to rot in the mountains."

My eyes blew wide. I bit down on my tongue so hard I tasted copper.

A flash of a repressed childhood memory hit me. Being snatched off the street at six years old.

The filthy basement. The man with the rotting teeth.

The putrid mattress. Starving in the dark.

Tears poured down my face. I thrashed violently, begging him to listen.

"I swear to God I did not touch your son! Check the cameras! It was not me!"

"The cameras are dead! Cut the innocent act!"

Victor slammed my head against the carpet, slammed the trunk shut, and peeled out of the garage.

I lay curled in the pitch-black trunk, suffocating in pure terror.

But as the SUV took a sharp corner onto the mountain road, a massive black tactical truck surged out of a side street.

It swerved directly into Victor's lane, blocking the road entirely.

A deafening crash shook the SUV as Victor slammed on the brakes, rear-ending the barricade.

Before Victor could even process the airbag deploying, his driver-side door was ripped open.

A pair of hands hauled him out of the vehicle and slammed him face-first onto the wet asphalt like a rabid dog.