As I met Cody in the middle of the aisle between a hair station and a row of massage chairs, he pointed to my empty hand.

“Decide not to get the bracelet?”

I shook my head. “Not worth it.”

He pulled me to his chest, and I rested my cheek on his shoulder as he hugged me tightly. “You’re incredible, you know that?”

My nod was blocked by his neck. “You remind me every day,” I murmured.

“I mean it every day, Mare.” He parted slightly from me, looking at me, adoring me. “Now that you have all that money coming, do you even want to be with me anymore?”

I wasn’t sure how to answer that. Not so much because of his kiss of betrayal, which did hurt me but oddly didn’t break my heart like I had expected it to. I wasn’t sure I liked who my husband was anymore, certainly not the head-over-heels-in-love guy who once upon a time wanted to rescue me. Maybe that was the whole problem. I used to be someone he needed to rescue. He lived to be my savior, but now that I didn’t need to be saved, I served him no purpose. I had become expendable.

We were already walking out of the mall entrance before I finally answered his question.

“I need time to figure things out,” I said honestly. “So much has changed, Cody. Felicity hates me, Debra doesn’t trust me, you’ve hurt me…there are so many lies and secrets and resentments. It’s all suffocating me, and I haven’t even had a minute to process everything.”

Cody’s pace slowed, then stopped in the middle of the sidewalk as the tide of shoppers flowed around us. I saw curiosity in his expression. He wanted to know what lies and secrets I was referring to.

“Then let’s start by being honest with each other—about everything.”

I had been too honest with him already. About killing my mother. About being the last one to see Vera alive. But there were some things I could never tell him. Some sins I had to take with me to the grave.

“I have been honest with you, Cody.”

I sprinted for the car with Cody clinging to my heels like a stray mutt.

“Have you, though? Because there are a lot of holes in your past that were never quite filled in. I never asked for details about what happened with your mom, because you’re entitled to your privacy, but what else haven’t you told me? You’re saying secrets are killing our marriage. So let’s get rid of the secrets and keep the marriage.”