The Wife Between Us

Vanessa wishes she could have given Emma her notebook as proof of the danger Richard poses, but it no longer exists. One night, as she snuck out of bed to write in it, her journal was not in its usual place beneath the guestroom mattress. She sensed him immediately and turned to see Richard holding the journal. He berated her, calling her pathetic and ungrateful. His verbal abuse quickly became physical, and he kicked her after she tore up the pages at his request. Then, he climbed on top of her, closing his hands around her neck, telling her she was meant to love him and save him.

Vanessa blacked out, and when she awoke, she was alone in the room. She eventually followed the smell of coffee, knowing it would lead her to Richard. She begged him to forgive her, blaming the contents of the journal on her drinking and sleeplessness. She promised she wasn’t going to leave him. He told her that she was not behaving “like the Nellie [he] married” (339). Richard said he “indulged” her depression by not giving her structure (340). From now on, she must wake up at the same time as him, work out with him, make him breakfast, go outside every day, make healthy dinners, and rejoin committees. Vanessa agreed, realizing that if she did not comply, he might kill her. She knew that if she was to escape her husband, it must be his idea to end the marriage.

To her surprise, Vanessa receives a call from Emma telling her she was right about Richard. After noticing the look of terror on Vanessa’s face when Richard offered to walk her out, Emma called the credit card company and discovered that Richard had never rebought the wine. Emma agrees to meet Vanessa to speak in person, and Vanessa suggests meeting at her bridal appointment so Emma doesn’t deviate from her routine—Richard would know if she did. When they speak, Emma is in shock, struggling to reconcile the man she knows with the man who can be “so brutal.” However, a memory stands out to Emma: After the cocktail party, Richard came to work with a scratch on his face, saying a neighbor’s cat had done it when he tried to pick it up. Emma says she had a cat and knew those scratches were different. Vanessa tells her that she did it when trying to get him off her. Emma is overwhelmed, thinking of how Richard will return soon from Chicago; she’s supposed to spend the night with him and then taste wedding cakes with Maureen the next day. Vanessa promises to help her.

They go directly to Emma’s place to plan. Vanessa notices the absence of a landline and reveals that she suspected Richard eavesdropped on their landline when she used it—she remembers how she joked with Sam about bringing multiple guys home right before the alarm went off. When Emma asks Vanessa why she didn’t leave Richard, Vanessa tells her the truth about how she set them up. Emma is furious that Vanessa knowingly sacrificed her. When Vanessa asserts that it was meant to only be an affair, Emma is still upset, saying that she had countless sleepless nights because she wondered if she had ruined a marriage. Able to relate, Vanessa tells Emma about her unwitting affair in college. Angrily, Emma asks her to leave. Before she does, Vanessa tells Emma to call off the wedding by saying she can’t handle the stress of Richard’s ex-wife. Emma realizes that by blaming it on Vanessa, Emma will be safe from Richard, but Vanessa won’t.