Chapter 5: The Second Gift
The envelope trembled in Tiana's hand.
She pulled out the confirmation and read it twice.
The first item was the gold ring, engraved with the promise she'd already seen.
The second was a gold bracelet.
Beside the bracelet's description was a note:
Engraving: M + D. Always and forever.
Monique stared at the paper.
“What is that?””
Dray reached for it.
Tiana pulled it away.
“Don't.””
His hand fell to his side.
Jordan stepped back into the living room, her expression changing from disbelief to something sharper.
“You bought matching promises for two women?””
Dray swallowed.
“I was going to explain everything.””
“When?”” Jordan asked.
“At the wedding? During the reception? When you were trying to decide which one of us to stand beside?””
“That's not what this was.””
“Then tell us what it was.””
Dray glanced at Monique.
She looked as though she'd forgotten how to move.
“You told me you didn't have money for our anniversary,” she whispered.
He closed his eyes.
“Monique—”
“You told me you wanted to do something special, but you needed another paycheck. I told you we didn't need gifts. I said we could cook dinner at home.””
She looked at the bracelet description.
“And you were buying me this?””
“Yes.””
“While buying her a ring?””
Dray's jaw tightened.
“I was trying to make everybody happy.””
Keisha let out a stunned laugh.
“Everybody? You mean yourself.””
He turned toward her.
“Can you stop making comments for one second?””
“No,” Keisha replied.
“You had months to think about what you were doing. We don't owe you a comfortable conversation now.””
Tiana barely heard them.
She was staring at the delivery date.
Both items were scheduled to arrive at Monique's house on Monday.
Yesterday, Dray had told Tiana he was visiting a supplier for work. He had even called her from the parking lot of a shopping center, complaining about traffic and asking what she wanted for dinner.
She had told him to get himself something to eat.
He'd laughed and said he wished he could spend the evening with her instead.
Then he'd ended the call with, “Love you, baby.””
While buying a ring intended to secure her future, he'd been arranging a bracelet to reaffirm another woman's place in his present.
Tiana placed the paper on the table.
“Why were you going to give Monique a bracelet and me a ring?””
Dray looked at her.
“Because I wanted to propose to you.””
“And what was the bracelet supposed to do?””
“Show Monique I cared about her.””
“While you married me?””
He looked away.
Tiana nodded slowly.
“That's what I thought.””
But Jordan wasn't finished.
She walked toward the desk, opened the drawer Dray had used, and examined the remaining papers.
“What are you doing?”” he demanded.
“Looking for the rest of the truth.””
She pulled out a folded sheet and opened it.
Her eyes narrowed.
“Dray, what is this?””
He lunged toward her.
Jordan stepped back, holding the paper against her chest.
“Don't touch me.””
“Give me that.””
“Tell me what it is.””
He hesitated.
Jordan looked down at the page.
It was a printed calendar.
Several dates were circled in red. Beside them were handwritten notes: Tiana—Friday, Monique—Sunday, and Jordan—Tuesday.
There were restaurant reservations, reminders about gifts, and notes about which stories he had told each woman.
One line read:
Tell Tiana the work trip moved to Thursday.
Another said:
Remind Jordan that Mom wants to meet her.
And next to Monique's name:
Keep weekend free. Talk about future.
Jordan's fingers tightened around the paper.
“This is a schedule.””
Dray's face flushed.
“It's just a calendar.””
“A calendar for what?”” Tiana asked.
He didn't answer.
Jordan turned the page over.
There were more notes.
A reminder to delete messages.
A note about keeping his phone on silent during dinner.
A list of excuses for when he couldn't answer calls.
And, written in block letters near the bottom, one sentence:
Never let them meet.
Monique covered her mouth.
Keisha took the paper from Jordan and read it herself.
Then she looked at Dray.
“You actually wrote that down?””
Dray reached for the page.
“It's not what it looks like.””
Tiana felt a strange, distant calm settle over her.
“What does it look like to you, Dray?””
He looked at her.
“It looks bad.””
“Because it is bad.””
He shook his head.
“I was trying to manage a complicated situation.””
“No,” Tiana said.
“You were managing people.””
He flinched.
She pointed toward the calendar.
“You scheduled our lives. You decided when each of us deserved your attention. You prepared excuses in advance. You even made notes about what to tell us when we asked questions.””
Dray's voice rose.
“You don't understand how much pressure I was under!””
“Pressure?”” Jordan repeated.
“Who was pressuring you to date three women?””
“Nobody.””
“Who forced you to lie?””
“Nobody.””
“Who made you take money from Monique?””
He looked at her angrily.
“I didn't steal anything.””
Monique stepped forward.
“You asked me for money under false pretenses. Call it whatever you want.””
Dray stared at the three women.
For the first time, he seemed to understand that he could no longer divide them into separate conversations, each with its own carefully chosen version of the truth.
They were comparing notes.
And every new detail made his story harder to defend.
He changed tactics.
“Tiana, you know me better than this.””
She almost laughed.
“Do I?””
“You know what we've been through.””
“Yes,” she said.
“I know you held me while I cried about my father's surgery. I know you drove two hours to bring me food when I had a bad day. I know you remembered the name of my childhood dog and the song I played when I couldn't sleep.””
Her voice softened, and for one painful moment, she looked almost like the woman who had loved him.
“That's why I trusted you.””
Dray stepped toward her.
“Exactly. What we had wasn't fake.””
Tiana looked at him.
“Maybe some moments were real. But you used those moments to convince me that the rest of your life was honest.””
He stopped.
She continued.
“You knew what mattered to me. You knew what made me feel safe. You knew how much I wanted a relationship where I didn't have to wonder whether I was being lied to.””
Her eyes filled.
“And you used that knowledge to make the lies easier to believe.””
Dray's expression crumpled.
“Tiana, please.””
“No.””
She wiped her cheek.
“I am not going to pretend that none of it mattered. It mattered to me. But that doesn't mean I have to keep letting you hurt me.””
Jordan lowered herself onto the edge of the couch.
Monique sat beside her, leaving a small space between them. Neither woman seemed to know what to say, but they no longer looked at each other as strangers.
They looked like people who had been given the same impossible puzzle and were finally seeing the picture on the box.
Keisha handed the calendar back to Jordan.
“Keep it,” she said.
“You might need it.””
Jordan folded it carefully.
“Why would I need it?””
“Because I have a feeling this isn't the only thing he's been hiding.””
Dray went pale.
Tiana noticed.
So did Monique.
“What else is there?”” Monique asked.
“Nothing,” he said.
Too quickly.
Keisha looked at Tiana.
“See? That's the problem. Every time we ask a question, he gets scared before he even knows what we're asking.””
Dray walked to the window.
“This is getting out of hand.””
Tiana studied his reflection in the glass.
For months, she'd thought his greatest fear was losing her. He had told her so often enough that she'd mistaken his desperation for devotion.
Now she wondered whether he was afraid of something else entirely.
Of being exposed.
Of losing the ability to control the story.
Of discovering that three women who had never met could recognize the same lie once they stood in the same room.
Monique suddenly stood.
“I want my money back.””
Dray turned.
“What?””
“The eight hundred dollars. I want it back.””
“I told you I'd pay you.””
“When?””
“Soon.””
“No.”” Monique pulled out her phone.
“Give me a date.””
Dray rubbed his jaw.
“I can't do this right now.””
“Then we'll do it in writing.””
She began typing.
Tiana watched her send a message. A moment later, Dray's phone buzzed.
He looked down at the screen.
Monique's voice was steady.
“I'm documenting what you owe me. Eight hundred dollars. I want you to confirm the amount and give me a repayment date.””
He stared at her.
“You're treating me like a stranger.””
Monique's face tightened.
“You treated me like an account you could withdraw from.””
The words silenced him.
Then Jordan stood and approached the table.
“I want my things.””
Dray looked at her.
“What things?””
“My clothes. My laptop charger. The toiletries I left here. The framed photograph of my mother that you said you wanted on your desk.””
He looked confused.
“The photograph?””
“Yes.””
Jordan's voice trembled.
“You told me you liked having something important to me in the house. You said you wanted to feel like we were building a home together.””
She glanced toward the desk.
“Was that another lie?””
Dray didn't answer.
Jordan walked toward the bedroom.
Monique followed her.
Keisha moved to help, but Jordan shook her head.
“I'm okay.””
Tiana remained in the living room with Dray.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then he said, “You really came here ready to destroy everything.””
Tiana stared at him.
“I came here because I thought you were cheating.””
“And now look at what's happening.””
“Look at what's happening?”” she repeated.
He gestured toward the hallway.
“Everybody is upset. Everybody is leaving. Nobody is willing to hear me out.””
Tiana felt the last thread of patience snap.
“You had three women who trusted you. Three women who believed you were building something with them. And instead of being honest, you wrote a schedule so you could keep all of us in your life.””
“I made mistakes.””
“You keep calling them mistakes because you don't want to call them choices.””
He looked at her with sudden desperation.
“If you walk away, you might regret it.””
Tiana felt the words land, familiar and poisonous.
There it was.
The threat disguised as a warning.
The suggestion that leaving him would somehow be the real mistake.
She picked up her handbag.
“Maybe I'll regret staying as long as I did.””
She headed toward the door.
Dray followed.
“Tiana, wait.””
She stopped on the porch.
He stood just inside the doorway, one hand gripping the frame.
“I need you to understand something.””
She turned.
“What?””
His eyes were wet.
“There's a reason I couldn't choose.””
Tiana stared at him.
“You didn't have to choose between us. You had to choose whether to lie.””
He shook his head.
“You don't know everything.””
“Then tell me.””
He hesitated, looking back toward the hallway where Jordan and Monique were gathering their belongings.
Finally, he spoke.
“Because one of you knows something about me that the others don't.””
Tiana's stomach tightened.
“What does that mean?””
Dray looked directly at her.
“Before you leave, you need to ask Jordan what happened the night she met my mother.””
From inside the house, a drawer slammed shut.
Jordan appeared at the end of the hallway.
Her face had gone completely white.
“Dray,” she whispered.
“Don't you dare.””
Tiana turned toward her.
“What happened when you met his mother?””
Jordan looked at Tiana, then at Dray.
Her lips trembled.
And before she could answer, Monique emerged from the bedroom holding a photograph.
She stared at it, then looked at Jordan with an expression of dawning horror.
“Wait,” Monique said.
“You met his mother?””
Jordan closed her eyes.
May you like
Monique lifted the photograph.
“Because he told me his mother died six years ago.””
