I Can Smell Every Lie, and My Husband Reeked of Betrayal Chapter 14

I Can Smell Every Lie, and My Husband Reeked of Betrayal Chapter 14

“Is Shannon here?”

Finn showed up at Mallory’s door early the next morning. He looked wrecked, dark circles under

his eyes.

“First tell me why you’re here,” Mallory blocked the doorway.

“I’m here for my wife.”

“Do you know she wants a divorce?”

“I know. That’s why I came.”

Mallory shot me a look. I nodded. She stepped aside and warned him quietly as he walked past.

“If you start yelling and fighting in my house, I’m calling the police.”

Finn stepped into the living room and stood in the middle. He didn’t sit. His bloodshot eyes locked

onto me.

“Shannon, I stayed up all night thinking. I got rid of every last one of Chloe’s things. Slippers, dresses-everything. I changed the house locks. Only you and I have keys now.”

I sat on the couch, hand resting on my belly, watching him.

I breathed in carefully.

The acrid vinegar smell lingered, and so did the putrid rotting-flesh stench.

But deep under all that mess lay an extremely faint wisp of rose scent. So faint you could barely pick it up, like a flower pushing up through garbage.

“Shannon, I’ve replayed everything you said. I messed up bad. I never should’ve let her crash at our house, and I definitely shouldn’t have-”

He gritted his teeth.

“I shouldn’t have hung her clothes in your closet. I know how awful that was. But nothing physical

ever happened between us-”

The doorbell rang. Mallory went to answer. That familiar gardenia scent drifted inside.

“Finn! I’ve been looking for you all morning.”

It was Chloe.

She stood in the doorway. Mallory planted herself right in front of her.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Chloe, Finn’s old classmate. Move please. I need to talk something urgent to him.”

Mallory wouldn’t budge.

“This is my house. Whatever you have to say, say it out in the hall.”

Chloe craned her neck to peek inside. She spotted me on the couch and frozen Finn.

In one split second, her whole expression shifted.

Hurt, heartbroken, helpless-three perfectly acted emotions.

“Finn, you came here to apologize to Shannon, didn’t you? I knew all this trouble was because of

It’s all my fault.”
Tears rolled down her cheeks,

This time, maybe she’d rushed over without time to get fully ready, or her frustration broke through. Cracks opened in her gardenia-scent barrier. The metallic smell of dried blood leaked out, mixed with putrid rotting-flesh stench.

That scent coming off Chloe smelled like active betrayal.

She had no reason to betray me.

Which meant she was betraying the nice-girl mask she wore-or betraying Finn.

I stood up and walked toward the door. The mix of gardenia scent and rot made me cover my nose,

but I didn’t step back.

“Chloe, what did you come here to say?”

She wiped tears away, voice shaky and breaking.

“Shannon, I never wanted to ruin your marriage with Finn. I just need someone to lean on so badly. Raising Wren alone is so hard. If I’ve upset you, I’ll never contact Finn again. I swear.”

Every line sounded like surrender.

Every sentence seemed reasonable.

But that rot pouring off her told me every single word was a lie.

“Okay.”

Everyone froze, even Chloe.

“You say you’ll cut contact with Finn. Prove it. Delete his number right now, in front of him.”

Chloe’s tears stopped. She glanced over at Finn. Finn stood there, his lips parted.

“Chloe, this-”

“You won’t?”

“No, I just-I-”

“Were you just messing with me?”

Her fingers twisted together. she looked toward Finn again, trying to make him step in for her.

I saw exactly what she was doing.

Finn’s mouth moved like he was about to speak. I cut him off first. “Finn, if you defend her, divorce papers get filed tomorrow.”

He shut his mouth.

Seeing Finn wouldn’t intervene, Chloe’s mask finally slipped. Her gardeniascent wall shattered completely. All her real scents flooded out-acrid vinegar smell, putrid rottingflesh stench, and that sharp metallic tang of dried blood.

At last I could smell every part of her.

She wasn’t some poor helpless woman needing rescue.

She was a hunter, and Finn was her prey.

My voice stayed calm and flat.

“Chloe, I can smell you now.”