I froze. This woman was who? She was there, but why?
Above all, what made Mia believe she was her father’s wife?
Jonathan appeared shaky. Pale and unable to speak, he gazed at the figure outside.
The woman continued to smile, her face expressionless and almost too serene. Her smile was too broad and self-assured. She remained still. She waited.
I felt a chill go through me.
Jonathan approached the door slowly. Still sitting, the visitors watched him every step of the way like they were in a bad dream. As he turned the doorknob, I noticed his hand shaking.
— “What are you doing here, you?” In a voice I didn’t know, he whispered.
Almost amused, the woman cocked her head.
— “Are you not going to present me?” Her eyes fell on me as she inquired quietly.
Her eyes went straight through me. There was no warmth. Behind that smile was only an odd intensity, almost menacing.
“Jonathan?” My voice was sharper than I meant when I asked. “Who is she?”
He looked back at me, clearly in a panic.
— “That’s Justine,” I said.
He hesitated.
– “My former spouse.”
A shiver of surprise ran through the guests. I was taken aback.
I believed that he had never been wed. He told me so quite plainly. And now, on the most significant day of our lives, this woman was actually standing there.
But Mia’s innocent addition, “She comes to the house when you’re asleep, Abi,” was what really chilled me. She warns me not to put my trust in you.
There was a thick quiet. My legs nearly failed me.
Ashen-faced, Jonathan turned to face his daughter.
— “What? Sweetheart, what do you mean? What time did she arrive?
Mia gave a shrug.
— Occasionally at night. “Mommy is coming back,” she says.
I was having trouble breathing.
Still outside, Justine shrugged, a peculiar sparkle in her eyes.
— “Don’t we all have secrets, Jonathan?”
Then she turned before anyone could respond. As though she had never been there, she vanished into the crowd.
With his head in his hands, Jonathan fell into a chair.
My heart was racing as I stood motionless, staring at the open door.
There was no doubt: that woman would return.
She wasn’t finished with us, either.
