Deceitful Vows by A. Mackin Page A

eat.”
    Apparently lying had become his new favorite hobby, and he was getting better and better at it.
     

***
    Stephanie eased into Kayla’s room, still confused by what she’d overheard Mark saying in the hallway. She stood back to watch him, hoping that the mumbling he was doing meant they had something in common, and he had “people” telling him what to do as well. It would be perfect if he did. Then they could live happily ever after, and finally they would have no secrets between them. But once she got closer to him, she could tell something had just happened between him and Kayla, and that it was bothering him.
    She walked over to a crying Kayla, and surprisingly she was genuinely concerned; not for Kayla, but for herself. She was hoping that the tears meant that Kayla was leaving Mark, and she was closer to getting him all to herself.
    Sitting down next to Kayla, she was curious about the tears and faking her concern, “What’s wrong, Kayla?”
    Kayla stopped crying long enough to tell Stephanie about Mark’s affair with Monica. “It was right in her face all along! I had no idea what was going on. I’m filing for a divorce as soon as possible.” As she wiped her face, she turned and looked Stephanie in the eyes. “Steph, I just want to say that I am so sorry. I know we have been a little distant, and it’s been months since the last time we spoke. I just want to say thank you for being a true friend to me. When Mark and I started having problems in our marriage, you were right there when I needed you. I can’t thank you enough for letting me bend your ear and for holding my hand.”
    All kinds of things were going through Stephanie’s head. She couldn’t believe her ears. Kayla was divorcing Mark, and soon enough she would have him all to herself. She also made a note to take care of Monica. There was no way she could keep her around after the divorce. She knew her and Mark had history, but that was all they were going to have if Stephanie could help it. She didn’t sit around in the wings this long waiting to have someone else come in and swoop Mark from up under her again. Stephanie had finally gotten her man after all these years, and nobody was going to get in her way of her happily ever after.
     
     

Chapter 12
    Vivian helped Kayla get out of the car and into her house while William carried a sleeping MJ in his baby carrier. A week later and they were finally released from the hospital. Kayla felt fine, but Vivian insisted that she still had to be sore. William constantly expressed his disbelief that his baby girl had had a baby. Judging from the look in his eyes, as he admired MJ, one would think that MJ was his first and only grandchild. However, what he truly couldn’t believe was that Mark had been cheating on his daughter. When she came to visit months ago, he knew something was wrong the moment he laid eyes on her. He never wanted to pry or insert himself in either one of his daughters’ relationships unless they asked him to, so he made it a point to wait until she wanted to talk about things. When he got the news that she was pregnant, he had mixed emotions. He knew Kayla would make a terrific mother, but even then he was worried about the state of her marriage. When a few months went by, and he never heard anything else, he assumed that she and Mark had worked through their problems like he and Vivian had dozens of times before. Now here he was arriving at the hospital after she had had her first child, to find out that not only was their marriage not on the right track, but that they were getting a divorce. After William had seen Mark a few times at the hospital, he had to fight back the urge to confront him. He promised Kayla he wouldn’t, but deep down he really didn’t understand why Mark would sleep with his assistant behind Kayla’s back. He also fought the urge to ask why Mark appeared to be so uncomfortable around Stephanie. From what William knew, they were all