"Oh, this is Aileen James. She's my friend. She came by to visit Mom."
Jayden's eyes darted everywhere except toward me.
"That's right. Aileen is such a sweetheart. She even bought me a gold bracelet."
Mrs. Whitney Sr. smiled warmly at the woman on the couch.
But Aileen didn't look at me. She didn't seem to have any intention of acknowledging me at all. As if she were the lady of this house.
I stared at my mother-in-law's face, but all I could see were images of the two of them together, tangled up in each other.
Nausea surged through me.
I stumbled to the bathroom, gagging, but nothing came up.
When I stepped out, I heard Jayden and Aileen by the door, their voices low and playful.
Jayden's tone was teasing, laced with mock reproach. "You invited her over without telling me first? You little troublemaker."
"I just wanted to see the look on her face when she lost it." Aileen's voice turned possessive. "And remember, you're not allowed to touch her."
"Touch her? She lies there like a dead fish. Nothing like you, you little wildcat."
My brain short-circuited.
So that was it.
All those late nights at the office. All those times he barely touched me.
It was because of a promise he'd made to her.