Chapter 4: The Letter I Was Never Supposed To Find
I read the sentence again.
Then again.
My hands were trembling.
If you are reading this, you finally know the truth about Marcus.
For a moment, I couldn’t move.
I looked around the bedroom.
The place where I had slept beside my husband for years.
The place where I believed I was safe.
But suddenly, every corner felt like it was hiding something.
I unfolded the paper.
The handwriting wasn’t Marcus’s.
That was the first thing I noticed.
The second thing was the name at the bottom.
A name I recognized.
“Rachel.””
I whispered it.
Rachel was Marcus’s younger sister.
The last time I saw her was four years ago.
She had looked uncomfortable during dinner.
Quiet.
Like she wanted to say something but couldn’t.
I remembered asking Marcus afterward.
“Is Rachel okay?””
He had shrugged.
“She’s going through a phase.””
I believed him.
I always believed him.
My eyes moved back to the letter.
Nia,
I don’t know if you will ever find this. I hope you do, because someone needs to tell you what Marcus won’t.
My heart sank.
I kept reading.
My brother has always been good at making people believe what he wants them to believe. He knows how to look honest. He knows how to sound hurt. He knows how to make people feel guilty for questioning him.
I sat down on the edge of the bed.
Because suddenly Olivia’s words made sense.
He didn’t just lie.
He created stories.
Stories where he was always the victim.
Stories where everyone else was the problem.
The next line made my breath stop.
Before you married Marcus, there was another woman.
I froze.
Another woman.
Before Olivia.
Before me?
No.
That couldn’t be right.
I continued reading.
Her name was Claire. She thought she was going to marry him. Then she discovered he had been telling different versions of his life to different people.
I stared at the paper.
How many people were there?
How many versions of Marcus existed?
A knock on the front door interrupted me.
I quickly folded the letter.
My first thought was Marcus.
But when I looked through the window, my heart stopped.
It wasn’t him.
It was Rachel.
I opened the door slowly.
She looked exhausted.
Her eyes were red.
“Nia.””
I stared at her.
“You knew?””
She looked down.
That was all the answer I needed.
“You knew about Olivia?””
Rachel swallowed.
“No.””
“Then what did you know?””
She took a deep breath.
“I knew Marcus was lying to you.””
The words felt like another betrayal.
“You knew?””
“Nia, please let me explain.””
I stepped back.
“How long?””
She looked ashamed.
“Years.””
I felt my chest tighten.
“Years?””
Rachel walked inside.
“He changed after college. At first, it was small things. Little lies. Then he got better at it.””
“Better?””
She nodded.
“He learned how to make everyone around him believe a different version of reality.””
I looked at the letter in my hand.
“Why didn’t you tell me?””
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Because I tried.””
The room became silent.
“What?””
She looked at me.
“I tried before your wedding.””
I felt like the floor disappeared.
“Marcus told me you were just stressed and insecure. He convinced you I was trying to ruin your happiness.””
I remembered.
The week before my wedding, Rachel had called me.
She sounded nervous.
But Marcus had told me she was jealous.
“She doesn’t think anyone is good enough for me,” he had said.
And I believed him.
Rachel reached into her purse.
“I brought something else.””
She pulled out a small envelope.
“This was the last thing Claire left behind.””
My fingers tightened.
“Why are you giving this to me now?””
Rachel looked toward the window.
“Because today I saw Olivia leaving the office.””
She paused.
“And I realized Marcus was doing it again.””
A chill moved through me.
“Doing what?””
Rachel looked directly at me.
“Replacing one woman before the other one finds out.””
The room felt completely still.
Then my phone rang.
Marcus.
I stared at his name.
Rachel looked at me.
“Don’t answer.””
“Why?””
Her face changed.
“Because if he knows you found out about Claire…”
She stopped.
I waited.
“What?””
Rachel’s voice dropped.
“He will do everything he can to make you doubt yourself.””
The phone continued ringing.
And then a message appeared.
One sentence.
May you like
One sentence that made me realize Marcus already knew something had changed.
You talked to Rachel, didn’t you?
