The First Sound I Heard In Three Years Was His Lie Chapter 04
After my flight landed, I returned to the rental house Graham and I shared.
I went straight to the locked attic and pulled a hammer from the toolbox.
I swung it down once, then twice. With a sharp crack, the broken padlock hit the floor.
When I pushed open the attic door, the room was empty. All twelve paintings I had stored there were gone.
I rushed to the computer, searched for Tessa’s name, and opened her online portfolio.
Along with the painting that had won the award that day, the other eleven were all there.
A sardonic smile crossed my face.
There was one secret even Graham did not know.
Whenever I finished a painting, I signed the lower-right corner with a special UV-reactive medium. The signature was visible only under ultraviolet light.
I organized the evidence and sent everything to my attorney.
When it was done, an unexpected sense of relief washed over me.
The following afternoon, Graham stormed into the house with a sobbing Tessa behind him.
“Mara Ellison!”
He shouted my name and yanked me off the couch.
His hands flew as he signed at me.
“Were you the one who hired an attorney to sue Tessa for stealing your paintings? Did you report her to the organizers of the International Art Awards too?”
“Why would you do this? Don’t you understand that you’re destroying her?”
“She just won yesterday, and now all her awards have been revoked. Her entire career in the art world could be over!”
Tessa’s eyes were swollen nearly shut from crying as she clutched the hem of Graham’s shirt.
“Graham, please stop. Don’t blame Mara.”
“This was my fault. I never should have taken her work without permission, and I definitely shouldn’t have entered it in the competition. If this ruins my reputation, then so be it.”
“Mara, I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to steal your work. I just couldn’t stand to see those paintings hidden away and forgotten.”
She made a show of lowering herself to her knees.
“What are you doing?”
Graham caught her before she could kneel, then turned and glared at me.
“As long as I’m alive, I won’t stand by and watch anyone treat you this way.”
After soothing Tessa, he turned back to me and continued signing.
“Mara Ellison, if you still want to be with me, withdraw the lawsuit immediately. Then apologize to Tessa publicly and admit that you lied because you were jealous of her.”
“You’ll never be able to paint again anyway. You might as well hand your artist name and all your accounts over to Tessa.”
I stared at Graham as he ranted.
The sheer audacity of it was almost laughable.
How could he act as though he had every right to hand my money and my work over to her?
My lips twitched. I could not decide whether to laugh or cry.
Graham gently wiped Tessa’s tears away with a tissue.
The tenderness in his eyes vanished the moment he looked at me.
“Mara Ellison, as long as you do exactly what I say, I’ll still marry you in a civil ceremony six days from now.”
“But if you refuse, get out of this house right now.”
“I’d like to see how long you survive with no job and no income.”
I watched his hands slowly fall to his sides.
I bit down on my lower lip until I tasted blood, then forced myself to let go.
After taking a deep breath, I signed, “Fine. I’ll do what you said.”
Graham scoffed.
“You should’ve done that from the start.”
Relief immediately flooded Tessa’s face.
“Thank you, Mara.”
Using the statement as an excuse, I turned and went back to the bedroom.
A moment later, the front door closed behind them.
That night was Graham’s family dinner. He always brought Tessa along to eat with his parents.
His mother had made it clear that I was not invited.
“You’re not family until the wedding.”
I wheeled my suitcase outside and got into a car.
On the way, Graham sent me a message.
Graham: [Once you post the statement, I’ll make Valentine’s Day up to you.]
I did not reply.
Instead, I logged into my artist account, which still had two million followers.
For the first time in three years, I posted an update.
…
Elsewhere, the color drained from Tessa’s face when a friend sent her a screenshot.
Graham was serving her dinner when he caught sight of her phone screen. A pulse jumped in his temple.
He grabbed his phone and messaged Mara.
Graham: [Are you out of your mind? Delete that post right now!]
Instead, a voice message came back.
