Katherine Rivera

“Don’t touch me. You make me feel dirty.” That was the first thing Navy Colonel Jack Sterling heard when he came home from a field exercise. The woman who said it was Amelia, his wife, who had always been so gentle, so forbearing. He froze, staring at the woman in front of him as if she were a stranger. She no longer sent him messages asking if he was all right. She no longer attended any of the military spouse gatherings that could bolster his image. She had even stopped bothering with Kyle, the son his ex-wife had spoiled rotten. Rage flared through him. “Amelia Sterling! As a colonel’s wife, maintaining this family’s image is your responsibility!” “Responsibility?” Amelia laughed as if he’d told the funniest joke in the world. She lifted her head, her bloodshot gaze locking onto his. “Where were you when I miscarried? When I was lying in a pool of my own blood, nearly dying on the operating table?” “What responsibility were you fulfilling then?” She laughed again, a cold, sharp sound, and each word was a hammer blow against his shock. “Oh, that’s right. I forgot. You were busy comforting your ex-wife, busy pleading on behalf of your precious son, Kyle.” “He was the one who pushed me down the stairs.” “You said it was an accident.” “But I finally understand now, Jack.” “Compared to your promotion, your reputation, your ex-wife, and your so-called bigger picture… that child and I were nothing but collateral damage.” ... The words pinned Jack in place like a nail. Kyle, his eight-year-old son, had pushed Amelia down the stairs. The “accident” he’d thought was long settled was now torn wide open, raw and bloody, by the venom in Amelia’s voice. The memory dragged Amelia back to that cold afternoon. She had been seven months pregnant, her belly swollen, her movements slow. Kyle had blocked the stairwell of their apartment building, looking like an enraged little bull. “Why haven’t you left yet? ......