Ninety-Nine Point Nine Nine Percent
Chapter 09 - Ninety-Nine Point Nine Nine Percent
Grant cried that night.
I had seen my husband cry exactly three times.
When his father died.
When we buried our daughter.
And now.
I stood in the hallway while he sat alone in the dark.
Part of me wanted to comfort him.
Another part wanted him to sit there with the consequences of a truth that everyone else had spent nine years carrying.
The next morning, Grant went to see Eli.
Hannah allowed it.
I did not go.
Instead, I removed my wedding ring.
I placed it on the kitchen counter.
When Grant came home, he saw it immediately.
"Claire."
"I need time."
"Are you leaving me?"
"I don't know."
He looked terrified.
For years, I might have found satisfaction in seeing how much losing me frightened him.
I didn't.
I just felt tired.
"I didn't cheat on you," he said.
"We were separated."
"I know."
"I didn't know about Eli."
"I know."
"Then what am I being punished for?"
That was when I finally became angry.
"This isn't punishment."
My voice shook.
"This is consequence."
Grant went silent.
"You lied when we reconciled. You let me rebuild my marriage without all the information. Every anniversary, every promise, every time I told you there could be no secrets between us—you knew there had been someone else."
"I was afraid."
"So was everyone."
I pointed toward the photograph.
"Your mother was afraid. My father was afraid. Hannah was afraid. You were afraid."
I took a breath.
"Everybody was so afraid of what I might do with the truth that nobody trusted me enough to give it to me."
Grant lowered his head.
I packed a suitcase.
I moved into my father's old cottage outside town.
For the first week, I ignored everyone.
Then, one Saturday morning, someone knocked.
Eli stood on the porch.
Hannah was beside him.
"I'm sorry," she said. "He insisted."
Eli held something behind his back.
"I brought you this."
It was a small wooden box.
Inside was a bracelet made from cheap blue beads.
"My mom said you lost a little girl."
I couldn't speak.
"I made this for her."
Tears came before I could stop them.
Eli looked worried.
"I didn't mean to make you sad."
I knelt.
"You didn't."
He hugged me.
And standing there with my husband's son in my arms, I understood something terrifying.
I didn't hate him.
Not even a little.
Then Hannah looked at me.
"Claire, there's another reason I came."
May you like
She took a breath.
"I need to ask you something about Eli."
