Kelly sat down on the sofa, its firm stiff upholstery a not so subtle reminder of how uncomfortable she truly was here. Seeing Joey tonight has brought it all back—all the feelings, all the memories.

She turned as she heard soft footsteps enter the room. "Your guest won't be joining you for dinner?" Mary asked hesitantly?

"No," Kelly answered sadly, "He's gone."

Mary stood silently, unsure of what to say. She'd been the housekeeper for the Amerson family for almost twenty years and she'd seen quite a few women come and go, but none quite like Kelly. She'd seen what this family—this man—was capable of. Kelly wasn't made for this and she deserved better. Every day she stayed, she'd swear she watched another small piece of her die. She walked slowly over to her, standing in front of her. "Can I get you anything?"

"No, thank you." Kelly fought against the tears that threatened to fall. She seemed to fight the urge to cry a lot lately.

"It's probably for the best," Mary whispered. "If Mr…"

"I know," Kelly responded quickly, standing. "Lily should be getting home from dance practice soon, right? Why don't you go out and get pizza for us and I'll scrounge up a video."

Mary nodded, watching as Kelly quickly headed up the stairs. She waited for the noise….and there it was. The sound of the bathroom door and the turn of the lock…she'd never hear the sobs, but she didn't need to. She always knew.

Joey looked out the window, at the completely dark sky. He'd known she was married. He'd known she had a life..a life outside of him..a life that didn't include him, but somehow he'd never dreamed she'd be so unhappy in it. Would it have made a difference? Would seeing her happy with someone else make this easier? He didn't know, but the truth was, it didn't matter. She wasn't happy. She was miserable…and now so was he.


Standing there, she stared, glaring at the reflection in the mirror. It was the same and yet, her life seemed a shell of what it had been years ago. She forced a smile, watching her eyes as she did so. They didn't smile back at her. It was as if they knew the smile, along with so much of her life now, was a scam.

Reaching up, she pulled open the cabinet door, opening the small bottle and pouring two small yellow pills into her hand. She reached for the glass by the sink, filling it with water, and closing her eyes as she washed the pills down her throat. Thinking back, she remembered the day the doctor had given them to her.

"We all need a little help sometimes," she'd said. "It's nothing to be ashamed of."

Kelly wasn't ashamed, and yet she still felt wrong needing medication to survive her marriage. The sound of laughter down the stairs jolted her back into reality. Lily was home. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and headed down the stairs.

He held the clipping in his hands, staring into the face of the man who'd married Kelly.

"Mark Amerson," he sighed, sliding his chair closer to his computer and typing the name quickly into the search engine.

He wasn't sure what he was looking for. What he did know what that sitting there and reliving everything he'd said to Kelly earlier…well, that wasn't helping anyone.

His eyes scanned the screen, mainly business profiles, stock reports, some reviews and articles from newspapers. He sighed, sliding his cursor towards the red x in the corner of the screen. This had been a ridiculous idea from the start. The headline at the bottom of the page caught his eye. "Tragedy strikes again for Business Tycoon".

Joey began to read.

Lynn Amerson was pronounced dead on the scene. Local police commented briefly stating, "There are no indications that this was anything but a tragic accident." Mark Amerson, CEO of Amerson Mutual, could not be reached for comment at press time.

Cause of death has been ruled accidental drowning and no autopsy will be ordered.

Lily Amerson, daughter of Mark and the late Suzanne Amerson, was reported to be out of town with a school function at the time of the event.

Joey felt the air rush back into his lungs. Two wives—both of them dead and a third who was slowly having the life drained out of her. He reached over, picking up the phone, and dialing a number.

"Jeff," he said gruffly, "I know it's late, but I need you to do some digging for me. See what you can find out about a Mark Amerson. Yeah. He lives in New York City." Joey paused for a moment.

Though he couldn't say exactly why, he had a bad feeling about this. The same feeling he'd had when he walked into that house. It looked beautiful, but it felt tainted…ugly…twisted. Picking up the clipping from the table, he looked back into Kelly's face. He spoke into the phone again. "And put a rush on it."