“I’m going to adopt him as soon as the divorce is finalized,” Brian continued, his tone chillingly practical, like he was mapping out a corporate merger. “He’ll be my son. Our son.”
The air left my lungs. I literally could not breathe.
“Oh,” Linda purred, her voice dripping with satisfaction. “Just imagine how thrilled Claire will be when you tell her the house is going on the market. She has waited so patiently for this.”
My ears were ringing. The hallway seemed to swim in front of my eyes. This wasn’t just an affair. This wasn’t just a divorce. This was a… a replacement. They weren’t just planning to get rid of me. They were planning to scrub me out of existence and slot someone else right into my life.
And the most sickening part? I had no idea how long this had been their plan. How many dinners had we shared, how many times had he kissed me goodnight, all while this was in motion? How many of his smiles had been strategic? How many “I love yous” had been calculated lies? My husband wasn’t just being unfaithful. He was actively plotting my removal.
“I always knew Claire was the right one for you,” Linda said, her voice shifting into that syrupy, sweet tone she only used for people she genuinely approved of. “You two are just perfect for each other. It’s really just a shame you met her after you’d already married… that one.”
That one. That’s what she called me. Not Rachel. Not “your wife.” Just an impersonal, dismissive “that one.” I was an object. A placeholder. An obstacle to be removed.
I bit down hard on my own knuckle, the sharp pain grounding me, anything to keep from crying out. My whole body was trembling from shock and rage, but I couldn’t move. I had to hear the rest. I needed to know everything.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Mom,” Brian muttered. “We still have to make sure Rachel doesn’t put up a fight over the divorce.”
“She won’t,” Linda scoffed, her voice filled with confidence. “Not if you play your cards right. You just remind her she’s got nowhere to go. No job. No savings. She’ll fold. Trust me.”
I squeezed my hands into fists, my nails digging into my palms. Every nerve in my body felt like it was on fire. They saw me as weak, cornered, and completely powerless. They thought I was trapped. But I wasn’t. Not really. Not yet.
“But what if she doesn’t fold?” Linda pushed. “What if she’s stubborn and gets a lawyer?”
Brian’s voice dropped, becoming quiet and calm. It was a terrifyingly calm sound. “Then we hit her with the infidelity clause.”
I almost fell. What infidelity? Linda asked, confused.
“It doesn’t matter,” Brian said dismissively. “I have those old photos from that work conference she went to a couple of years back. It’s just her with some of her male colleagues at dinner, but they can be… framed. It’s enough to plant the seed, to raise doubt.”
“Oh, you are a clever boy,” Linda cooed. “Just like your father.”
But he wasn’t finished. “And if that’s not enough,” Brian continued, “we’ll accuse her of leaking proprietary information from her company. She worked with sensitive client data. She brought her laptop home every night. I’ll just say I saw her trying to sell that data to a competitor.”
This time my legs gave out completely. I slid down the wall until I was sitting on the floor, my hands completely numb and ice-cold. This was my husband. The same man who once held my hair back when I had a stomach bug. The man who patiently painted our bedroom three different shades of blue until I was happy. And he was, in cold blood, planning to systematically destroy my entire life. He was going to commit perjury. He was going to invent crimes to pin on me. All to get me out of the way. All for Claire. And for a baby that wasn’t even his.
Claire. I could barely picture her. Just flashes from Mark’s memorial service… a quiet, mousy woman with red-rimmed eyes. She had seemed so fragile, so broken. I never, ever would have imagined she would reappear in our lives this way. Not as the other woman. Not as the person meant to take my place. Not as the mother of a child my husband was planning to raise as his.
“So, how is the baby doing?” Brian asked, his voice suddenly shifting again, becoming light, almost cheerful.
“Oh, he’s strong,” Linda answered, her voice full of pride. “Claire says he’s growing like a weed. Looks just like Mark, she says. Has his eyes. His laugh. You’ll get to see him soon enough.”
The hallway tilted. The room was spinning around me.
They were already a family. Brian, and Claire, and the baby. And Linda, of course. The matriarch of this new, perfect little unit. In their heads, I was already out of the picture. I was just a loose end to tie up. Just a bit of paperwork and one last, uncomfortable conversation.
“I’m going to tell her tonight,” Brian announced. “She’s already vulnerable after losing her job. It’s the perfect time to do it.”
“I’ll play the sympathetic husband,” he continued. “Say it’s for the best, that we’ve grown apart. I’ll offer her a little cash to just walk away clean.”
Linda snorted. “Exactly. Play up the pity. Make her feel like she’s a burden on you now. She’ll cave. Women like her always do.”..
