My Valentine Surprise Exposed the Secret My Husband Was Hiding Chapter 05

My Valentine Surprise Exposed the Secret My Husband Was Hiding Chapter 05

Turns out, the “Susie” everyone kept talking about turned out to be my dad’s new trophy wife.

And Zane clearly had no idea—back in college, his precious Susie had already crawled into my father’s bed.

Brenda heard the commotion and came out of the kitchen. She didn’t catch the tension in the room. She just looked at Zane. “Son, you’re back. And you actually kept the marriage a secret from us? That’s not right.”

“And who’s this? Why’d you bring some woman home on New Year’s Day Day of all daysNew Year’s Day? You’re not worried about upsetting Susie?”

No one knew what to say. The room went dead still.

I stood up, walked over to Brenda, and introduced her properly. “Mom, this is my stepmother. My dad’s new wife.”

“She’s quite something, my stepmom. She’s played dirty. She climbed into my dad’s bed back in college and broke up my parents’ marriage.”

“One more thing—she grew up poor. My mom paid for her education, her living expenses, everything. And she repaid that by sleeping with her sponsor’s husband.”

Brenda shot her a look of pure disgust. She didn’t even seem to notice that Zane and this woman were still holding hands.

“Son, what the hell are you doing bringing her here on New Year’s Day?”

“If you need to talk about marriage, you don’t do it with some side piece. Susie has her own mother.”

Aunt Patty tugged at Brenda’s sleeve. “Brenda, that’s enough.”

“Don’t shush me. I’m gonna give him a piece of my mind. Bringing god knows what kind of trash into this house.”

“He’s a grown man—where’s his head? He’s just making things worse for Susie.”

She smacked Zane hard on the back of the head.

Zane seemed to snap out of it. He looked at me, then at Susie. For a moment, he couldn’t find the words.

Probably hadn’t expected me—the wife he’d kept secret for a year, the one who never talked about her family—to show up at his house unannounced.

He let go of Susie’s hand and stepped toward me. “Rory, why are you here? Why didn’t you tell me you were coming? And what did you just say? She’s your stepmother? So that means you’re…”

His face was a mess of disbelief.

All the relatives had clearly figured it out by now, but nobody dared to speak. Brenda, though, was still completely lost. She muttered under her breath, “Wait—I thought her name was Susie. Why’s he calling her Rory?”

Aunt Patty grabbed her arm and pulled her into the kitchen.

A second later, a loud clang echoed from the kitchen—a pot lid hitting the floor.

Aunt Patty couldn’t hold her back. Brenda stormed out, marched straight up to Zane, and slapped him across the face. Hard.

“Which one of them is your actual wife? And which one is Susie?”

Megan popped up again. “Aunt Brenda, don’t listen to her! Susie and Zane have been in love for years. She’d never marry some old man.”

“Right, Susie? Say something. Clear this up.”

But Susie just hung her head, silent. That silence was louder than any denial.

Megan didn’t get the hint. She kept running her mouth. “Zane, kick her out. First she pretended to be Susie, and now she’s slinging mud at her.”

“If she keeps running her mouth, Susie’s reputation is going to be ruined.”

Before she could finish, Aunt Patty grabbed her by the ear. “Shut up, you idiot!”

“How many times do I have to tell you to keep your mouth shut? Haven’t you caused enough trouble?”

She clamped her hand over Megan’s mouth, forcing her quiet.

I looked at Zane—nervous, fidgeting—then at Susie, trembling behind him, pale as a ghost.

“Aren’t you two going to explain yourselves? Maybe I’ll think about whether to tell my dad. You know he and I don’t exactly get along.”