She Was Never Just the Billionaire’s Wife (Natasha and Chase) novel Chapter 78

(Sonia)

Eleanor has been giving me the cold shoulder for a week now.

Not dramatically. That’s not really how Eleanor operates.

She does it in that exquisitely refined way of hers.

The slightly too-long pause before acknowledging anything I say.

The way she addresses every remark to Chase as if I’m not in the room.

The smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes and isn't really trying to.

It's exhausting to be on the wrong side of.

I like having her in my corner.

I need to fix it, and that’s going to require doing something drastic.

The best idea I can come up with is to find something to confess to.

Something that demonstrates growth and honesty without actually costing me anything important.

This is, if I'm honest, what I've been doing in therapy since the beginning.

Finding truths that are safe to perform.

Dr. Reeves would probably have feelings about that framing.

The problem is that the obvious sins are off the table.

I can’t confess to faking the pregnancy, that ends everything.

The miscarriage holds the same danger.

Confessing that Natasha is our sister and that I had a fraudulent death certificate made to ensure nobody finds out would have legal repercussions and make me look like a psychopath.

Which I’m not. I just don’t want her continuing to ruin my life.

I need something that matters, but not an urgent sense.

I choose my moment carefully.

A Sunday evening, during Lily's six o'clock feed.

Eleanor and Chase are both in the sitting room. Natasha will be with Lily for at least an hour.

No audience members I don't want.

This is an exclusive event.

I sit down, fold my hands in my lap, and take a breath.

"I need to tell you both something," I say.

"Dr. Reeves has been helping me understand that I can't move forward while I'm still holding on to the past and things I may have done to harm others."

Chase looks up from his phone.

Eleanor sets down her book with the controlled curiosity of a woman who refuses to ever appear too interested in anything.

I have their full attention. Good.

"Years ago," I say, "When Nathanial was with Gloria, I did things, on purpose, to ruin their relationship."

My confession is met with silence, so press on bravely, keeping my voice appropriately weighted.

Remorseful but not theatrical.

Dr. Reeves would approve of the delivery, if not the motive.

"It wasn't one thing. It was a lot of small things over a long time. I'd tell Nathaniel things Gloria supposedly said about our family. I'd call him in tears at exactly the right moment, needing him, whenever they had something special planned. I made Gloria seem unreliable. I made it seem like she resented me."

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