"Let's just leave it. I don't want him to know. And I don't want treatment anymore."
Austin was hiding in the corridor, catching fragments of the conversation—but nothing clear.
When I stepped out, his face was all concern.
"How did it go? What did the doctor say?"
I smiled and shook my head, about to answer—
When Kathy's call came through.
"Austin, my water pipe burst and I'm soaked. Can you come fix it for me?"
His expression shifted instantly.
"Sure. I'm on my way."
He thought I hadn't heard. Covering the phone, he turned to me with a perfectly straight face.
"Pearl, remember that new project I mentioned? I'm going to meet with them now. If it works out, we might finally get back on our feet."
I stared into his eyes.
When he'd proposed to me, those same eyes had been filled with nothing but sincerity.
Now they looked just as sincere.
But the lies rolled off his tongue without so much as a blink.
My unbroken gaze made him uneasy. He nearly tripped over his own act.
"Pearl... is something wrong?"
"Go ahead."
"If you can turn things around, we won't have to worry about those debt collectors anymore."
Those debt collectors—every single one of them had been sent by Austin himself.