Page 116 of The Illusion
Devon follows me to the garage. We get in my car and I start the engine. As I'm backing out, I see them. Julie, Jamie, and Ryan, and a man I've never seen before standing in the driveway. Watching us leave. And the man is taking photos. Which means he's the private investigator who found out my name isn't even on the fucking deed for the house.
Julie's face is completely calm. She's not crying. She's not angry. She's just watching, her arms crossed, as I drive away from the house. The house that's hers now. I make it to the end of the street before I have to pull over. My hands are shaking so badly I can't hold the steering wheel. My jaw is throbbing. My head is pounding.
I thought I was crossing the finish line. I thought I was finally taking control of my life, making my own choices, being free. I thought taking her to that therapy was a power move. I thought I was winning. But once Ryan told her what I did, Julie didn’t break. She put on a mask of her own to lull me into a false sense of security, and then waited until the perfect moment to destroy me.
"Asher," Devon says quietly. "What are we going to do?"
I don't answer because I have no fucking idea. All I know is that an hour ago, I was on top of the world. I was in my bed with the woman I wanted, planning our future, feeling like I'd finally won. And now I'm sitting in my car at the end of my street, terrified and humiliated, with the taste of blood in my mouth and the image of Julie's calm, cold face burned into my brain. I thought I was the one in control.
I was very fucking wrong.
CHAPTER
FORTY-FOUR
RYAN
Marcus isthe first to leave. He packs up his surveillance equipment with the efficiency of someone who's done this a thousand times. Camera, laptop, lenses—everything disappears into a black duffel bag within minutes.
"I'll have the full report to you by tomorrow night," he says, shaking my hand. "Photos, video, timeline. Everything you'll need."
"Thanks, Marcus. I appreciate it."
He nods, glances toward the house where Julie and Jamie are still standing in the driveway, and lowers his voice. "She did good in there. Kept her composure. That's not easy."
"No," I agree. "It's not."
He leaves, and I turn back to the two women who are still staring down the empty street where Asher's car disappeared. Julie hasn't moved. She's standing there in jeans and a t-shirt, arms wrapped around herself, looking smaller than I've ever seen her. Jamie has her hand on Julie's back, rubbing slow circles. Jamie and I exchange a look. Julie was tough as nails when Asher and Devon were here, but the cost is being paidright now. She was a warrior while she had to be. And now, she’s breaking.
"Come on," I say gently. "Let's go inside."
Julie doesn't respond. She just keeps staring.
"Jules," Jamie says softly. "Come on, honey. Let's go in."
This time, Julie nods. Just barely. And she lets us guide her back toward the house.
Julie takes three steps into the foyer and stops. Her breathing gets faster. Shallower.
"Julie?" Jamie moves toward her. "Hey, it's okay?—"
"It's not okay." Julie's voice cracks. "It's not—none of this is okay."
And then she breaks. It's not a quiet cry. It's not a few tears. It's a full-body collapse, like every bit of strength she's been holding onto just gave out all at once. Jamie catches her before she hits the floor, wrapping her arms around her sister as Julie sobs into her shoulder.
"He was never real," she whispers. "The man I married was never real. I don't... I don't even know who I was married to."
"You were married to a liar," I say quietly. "A manipulative piece of shit who didn't deserve you."
"But Ilovedhim." She pulls back from Jamie, her face red and wet. "And it was all—it was all fake. He didn't love me. He never loved me. He just—he just needed someone to marry so his father would?—"
She breaks off, pressing her hands to her face. Jamie pulls her back in, and they sink to the floor together, right there in the foyer. I crouch down beside them, my hand on Julie's back. She'sshaking. Trembling so hard I can feel it through her shirt. It makes me want to find him and snap his neck like a fucking twig.
"I'm so stupid," she says. "I'm so fucking stupid."
"You're not stupid," Jamie says fiercely. "Don't you dare say that."
"I believed him. I believed every word. Every lie. Every—" Her voice breaks again. "He looked me in the eye and told me he loved me and Ibelievedhim."
