Secrets and Lies | ✔️

Chapter 28 - Conrad

Ch.28 - Conrad

Mr. and Mrs. Steven Austin of Seattle, Washington were married on March 23rd in St. James Cathedral during a ceremony officiated by the Reverend Peter Kozak.

The bride, Sarah Austin, is the daughter of the late Carl and Renee Carter of Seattle. She is currently a nursing student at the University of Washington.

The groom, Steven Austin, is the son of Conrad Austin II and the late Elizabeth Austin of Seattle. He is a graduate of the University of Washington where he received a Master's Degree of Science in Applied Mathematics and is currently working toward his MBA.

The newlyweds plan to reside in the Greater Seattle area.

Conrad leaned back into the plush leather of his office chair and set the folded newspaper down next his coffee, still steaming from when his secretary brought it in. Propping his elbows on the arm rests, he pressed his fingertips together and swiveled his seat toward the Seattle skyline. The downtown buzzed with activity, even in the early hours of the morning, and he watched with unwavering fascination from the large picture window behind his desk. He'd been staring at the same setting for over twenty years and still never tired of the varying heights of the towers or the dignified Space Needle in the not too far off distance, the majestic landmark of the Pacific Northwest. The rising sun reflected off Lake Union and the rolling ridges of the Olympic Mountains silhouetted against the orange and pink sky.

The wedding announcement bothered him more than he cared to admit. He hadn't seen Steven since Elizabeth's funeral, when he'd told him to leave and never come back. Now here he was, married, to a woman who was as much of a stranger to him as his very own son. Something about the article sat heavy in his chest, igniting a painful, dull ache that hadn't been there before. An ache Conrad wouldn't typically allow.

Missing his son wasn't the cause of the throbbing discomfort lingering in his core. He didn't miss him at all. It was the ache of a betrayal that had blindsided him. An ache that loitered like the side effects of an appendage being removed. Deep. Unreachable. No matter how many pills he ingested or how much alcohol he consumed.

Conrad remembered his wife's funeral as if it had happened only the day before and not, what...eight years ago already? With surprising momentum, he felt himself slip back in time and the familiar lump of unease swelled in his throat. Normally, he would swallow the uncomfortable thoughts when they emerged, brush them away before his body reacted in a manner he couldn't control. But the problem was that this was his reality, circumstances he wished every day he could forget.

But some memories are impossible to erase.

​The humiliation he'd suffered after Elizabeth selfishly took her own life was magnified by the inexcusable reaction of his son. Conrad had managed to gain the sympathy of the community as he grieved the loss of a woman so mentally ill she refused to seek help. Friends and co-workers rallied around him in his time of need, offering their love and support as if he were a martyr--which in their eyes he was. How many men would care for their wives after they'd become too insane to accept medical attention? What a strong man he must be for staying by her side with a psychological illness as crippling as hers; helping her, holding her hand, keeping her safe from herself for as long as he could. Not many husbands would spend the freedom of their youth tethered down to a woman incapable of taking care of herself.

At least, that's what he lead them to believe. He'd painted a vivid picture of Elizabeth's insanity, the only acceptable cause of ending her life.

"Why did you keep us in the dark for so long?" they all prodded. "We could have helped if we'd known Elizabeth was this unwell."

With downcast eyes Conrad accepted their well-meaning efforts as if he truly had been a man living with a time bomb, ticking away the minutes and seconds, waiting to detonate.