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Chapters (66)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Dedication
  4. Chapter One
  5. Chapter Two
  6. Chapter Three
  7. Chapter Four
  8. Chapter Five
  9. Chapter Six
  10. Chapter Seven
  11. Chapter Eight
  12. Chapter Nine
  13. Chapter Ten
  14. Chapter Eleven
  15. Chapter Twelve
  16. Chapter Thirteen
  17. Chapter Fourteen
  18. Chapter Fifteen
  19. Chapter Sixteen
  20. Chapter Seventeen
  21. Chapter Eighteen
  22. Chapter Nineteen
  23. Chapter Twenty
  24. Chapter Twenty-One
  25. Chapter Twenty-Two
  26. Chapter Twenty-Three
  27. Chapter Twenty-Four
  28. Chapter Twenty-Five
  29. Chapter Twenty-Six
  30. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  31. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  32. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  33. Chapter Thirty
  34. Chapter Thirty-One
  35. Chapter Thirty-Two
  36. Chapter Thirty-Three
  37. Chapter Thirty-Four
  38. Chapter Thirty-Five
  39. Chapter Thirty-Six
  40. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  41. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  42. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  43. Chapter Forty
  44. Chapter Forty-One
  45. Chapter Forty-Two
  46. Chapter Forty-Three
  47. Chapter Forty-Four
  48. Chapter Forty-Five
  49. Chapter Forty-Six
  50. Chapter Forty-Seven
  51. Chapter Forty-Eight
  52. Chapter Forty-Nine
  53. Chapter Fifty
  54. Chapter Fifty-One
  55. Chapter Fifty-Two
  56. Chapter Fifty-Three
  57. Chapter Fifty-Four
  58. Chapter Fifty-Five
  59. Chapter Fifty-Six
  60. Chapter Fifty-Seven
  61. Chapter Fifty-Eight
  62. Chapter Fifty-Nine
  63. Chapter Sixty
  64. Chapter Sixty-One
  65. Chapter Sixty-Two
  66. Acknowledgments

I looked down at myself. I had on a pair of wrinkled khakis, tennis shoes, and a sloppy shirt, and I remembered I hadn’t put on makeup that morning. I didn’t want to embarrass Elle by my unsightly appearance. When I tried to demur, she insisted. “Come on. We see distressed wives all the time.”

Distressed wife? If you would’ve told the twenty-four-year-old version of myself I would be standing on a street corner with virtually no money, married to a drug addict who looked successful, and that I gave control and access to that same drug addict, I would’ve laughed. I was Bailey Edgeworth: visionary. Not Bailey Edgeworth distressed, destitute, and dumb-ass wife.

Elle escorted me into a conference room and introduced me to her senior partner, Larissa Tate. She walked to the head of the conference table and sat down with her notepad. I gave them a brief rundown of what had transpired, including the fifty thousand that Elliott had apparently taken from our joint account this morning. At first, Elle just looked at me in disbelief, like my friend, not like a shark lawyer. I showed them both pictures of the prescription bottles and the rolled up hundred-dollar bill. Larissa and Elle exchanged legalese.

Larissa turned to me. “Are you retaining my legal services?” My mind and my emotions had a bad case of vertigo. “Do you want my representation in a divorce proceeding?” Larissa asked slowly as if I were reading her lips. Elle looked at me.

“Shit, Bailey. This has been going on for a long time. His back pain? He’s a drug addict. He has no money, and now he’s stealing money from you. Think about the roller-coaster ride. The unpredictability. Don’t you see? This didn’t just happen yesterday.”

I felt like a fool.

“He is a drug addict and thief. Don’t forget the money for the stove. He may love you in his own twisted way, but he is using you. It is not safe to be around him. It’s your decision. Is this what you want the rest of your life to look like?”

In that moment, I was very clear about what I wanted. What I didn’t want. It felt sudden in a way, but I realized it really wasn’t. I was confused by the people we had become. I didn’t recognize either one of us at all. It broke my heart. I walked through the eye of the needle.

Chapter Forty-One

Chapter Forty-One