Jeremy did not move.<\/p>\n
Lacey\u2019s confession seemed to settle over him physically, as though the air itself had gained weight.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou cheated on me?\u201d<\/p>\n
His voice was quiet.<\/p>\n
Not angry yet.<\/p>\n
Mostly stunned.<\/p>\n
Lacey opened her eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore we broke up.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow long?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy laughed bitterly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat word is popular.\u201d<\/p>\n
She flinched.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lacey looked at me.<\/p>\n
That glance was enough to make my stomach tighten.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d I repeated.<\/p>\n
She turned back to Jeremy.<\/p>\n
\u201cMark.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
Jeremy did too.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lacey\u2019s mouth trembled.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore he met Karen.\u201d<\/p>\n
My mind rejected the name.<\/p>\n
Mark.<\/p>\n
My brother-in-law.<\/p>\n
Karen\u2019s husband.<\/p>\n
Daniel\u2019s father.<\/p>\n
Amanda\u2019s father.<\/p>\n
The same Mark whose family had eventually adopted Amanda.<\/p>\n
The same Mark whose daughter had unknowingly connected back to Lacey\u2019s foster years.<\/p>\n
It was too neat.<\/p>\n
Too tangled.<\/p>\n
Too impossible.<\/p>\n
\u201cMark Mercer?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy gripped the bedrail.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow did you even know him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe worked together briefly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt Kroger?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. At the diner near campus.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered Lacey having a second job.<\/p>\n
I had never cared enough to ask much about it.<\/p>\n
Jeremy\u2019s voice sharpened.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou slept with Mark while you were with me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore Jill and I kissed?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lacey hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The answer changed something fundamental.<\/p>\n
Jeremy stepped back.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou blamed me for destroying us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou left because I kissed Jill.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou let everyone believe she was the reason.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I sat very still.<\/p>\n
Lacey looked toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
My laugh came out thin.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwenty-two years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor twenty-two years I thought I had detonated your life.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou hurt me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you weren\u2019t the first betrayal.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Jeremy.<\/p>\n
His face was unreadable.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen did you find out it might be Mark\u2019s baby?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI never knew for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lacey explained that the pregnancy dates were uncertain.<\/p>\n
She had been with Mark once.<\/p>\n
She had still been sleeping with Jeremy.<\/p>\n
When the doctors discovered the genetic abnormality, questions arose about family history.<\/p>\n
One trait did not match what Lacey knew about Jeremy\u2019s family.<\/p>\n
It could have meant nothing.<\/p>\n
It could have meant the pregnancy involved someone else.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou never tested?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Mark know you were pregnant?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lacey looked away.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy swore.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knew?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he think it was his?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knew it was possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room seemed to shrink.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he know you miscarried?\u201d Jeremy asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd he never told me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy turned away.<\/p>\n
I watched him grip the windowsill.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did Mark say when you told him?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lacey stared at the blanket.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe panicked.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat sounds familiar,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
She almost smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was twenty-three.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo were we.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me he wanted no involvement unless testing proved the baby was his.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy let out a bitter breath.<\/p>\n
\u201cConvenient.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wasn't proud of it later.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLater?\u201d<\/p>\n
My attention sharpened.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou stayed in contact.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot closely.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen did you speak again?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYears later. After he married Karen.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was married to my sister and still talking to you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn't romantic.\u201d<\/p>\n
I laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat phrase should be banned from this room.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lacey nodded weakly.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou're right.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy were you talking?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he learned I had been the foster connection to Amanda.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared.<\/p>\n
Of course.<\/p>\n
The same line came back around.<\/p>\n
Mark\u2019s daughter had once been in Lacey\u2019s aunt\u2019s foster home.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew Amanda\u2019s biological mother was related to you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lacey explained that the young cousin who gave birth to Amanda had been connected to her aunt\u2019s side of the family.<\/p>\n
The adoption path eventually led Amanda into Mark\u2019s parents\u2019 home.<\/p>\n
Years later, when Lacey realized Amanda was Mark\u2019s daughter, she understood how bizarrely their histories had crossed.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Mark know you had almost adopted Amanda?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEventually.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe asked me not to contact her again.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was afraid of confusing her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat part at least makes sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy turned from the window.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Mark ever know the pregnancy might have been mine?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lacey looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
His jaw tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter you started visiting me again.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThree years ago?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would you tell him then?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I was trying to clean up the past.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy laughed once.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy adding another secret?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did Mark say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe asked whether you knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn't.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe asked me to keep it that way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he said no good could come from reopening it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought of Karen.<\/p>\n
How much did she know?<\/p>\n
Enough to hide Lacey.<\/p>\n
Enough to plant notes.<\/p>\n
Enough to meet her repeatedly.<\/p>\n
Had she known her husband had once slept with her?<\/p>\n
My phone was already in my hand.<\/p>\n
Jeremy saw.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Karen may not know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat has not stopped anyone from calling me with truth bombs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJill.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe is my sister.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Mark is her husband.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExactly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lacey whispered, \u201cShe knows.\u201d<\/p>\n
I froze.<\/p>\n
Jeremy closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course she does.\u201d<\/p>\n
I moved closer to the bed.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow long?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd she stayed with him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to ask her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you tell her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho did?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMark.\u201d<\/p>\n
That surprised me.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe confessed?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause when I began talking to Karen about Amanda and Sophie, he realized I might eventually tell her.\u201d<\/p>\n
I laughed bitterly.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo he got ahead of the story.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think guilt got ahead of him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat would be new.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy walked back toward the bed.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you love Mark?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he love you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lacey stared at the ceiling.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I was angry at you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy flinched.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had been fighting. You had been talking about moving for trade school. I thought you were going to leave eventually.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you slept with him first.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then when I kissed Jill, you used that as the reason to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause your betrayal gave me a cleaner story.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy sat heavily.<\/p>\n
That sentence pierced all three of us.<\/p>\n
A cleaner story.<\/p>\n
We had all apparently lived inside one.<\/p>\n
Lacey the abandoned girlfriend.<\/p>\n
Me the woman who stole someone else\u2019s man.<\/p>\n
Jeremy the guilty boyfriend who destroyed a pregnant woman\u2019s future.<\/p>\n
Mark completely absent from the narrative.<\/p>\n
Reality was uglier and less satisfying.<\/p>\n
Everyone had failed someone.<\/p>\n
Nobody owned the entire blame.<\/p>\n
I sat beside the bed again.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy tell us now?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the note was supposed to force the conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe note you had Karen hide.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn't you just tell us?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought Jeremy would refuse to hear it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were right.\u201d<\/p>\n
She smiled sadly.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut now?\u201d<\/p>\n
He breathed out.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow I don't have the luxury.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lacey closed her eyes.<\/p>\n
The oxygen monitor beeped softly.<\/p>\n
I thought of Karen.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened when Karen found out about Mark?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lacey opened her eyes again.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe came here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAngry?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVery.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat sounds familiar.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe cried for an hour.\u201d<\/p>\n
My chest tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid she forgive him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut she stayed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor Daniel?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPartly.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought of Sophie too.<\/p>\n
Their household was more fragile than I had known.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow did this affect the trust?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt didn't.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lacey\u2019s voice weakened.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel and Sophie are innocent.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat may be the first uncomplicated thing in all this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy leaned forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cWas the baby mine?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lacey stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you believe it was?\u201d<\/p>\n
She hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat changed over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt first I wanted it to be yours.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy\u2019s eyes filled.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen when I was angry, I told myself it was Mark\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd now?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lacey looked toward the window.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow I think uncertainty became a weapon I used against myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt something in my chest loosen.<\/p>\n
Not forgiveness.<\/p>\n
Recognition.<\/p>\n
She had kept the question alive because certainty would have forced grief into one shape.<\/p>\n
Uncertainty allowed it to remain everything.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could have told me,\u201d Jeremy said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI would have gone to the meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why didn't you tell me on the phone?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I wanted to see whether you would come.\u201d<\/p>\n
His face crumpled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought you were trying to manipulate me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we both won.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked confused.<\/p>\n
Jeremy laughed bitterly.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou tested whether I cared enough to come. I proved I was too angry to come. Everybody got exactly what they feared.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lacey\u2019s eyes filled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at her for a long time.<\/p>\n
Then nodded once.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe you.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room went quiet.<\/p>\n
I expected relief.<\/p>\n
Instead the confession seemed to drain Lacey.<\/p>\n
Her eyes closed.<\/p>\n
Jeremy reached for her hand.<\/p>\n
She did not resist.<\/p>\n
I watched.<\/p>\n
It still hurt.<\/p>\n
Maybe it always would.<\/p>\n
But the meaning had changed.<\/p>\n
The man touching her was not choosing her over me in that moment.<\/p>\n
He was saying goodbye to someone whose life had tangled with his for decades.<\/p>\n
I could admit that without approving anything that came before.<\/p>\n
A nurse entered.<\/p>\n
\u201cTransport is ready if we\u2019re still going to the chapel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lacey opened her eyes.<\/p>\n
Jeremy looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you sure?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The nurse glanced toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you coming?\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Lacey.<\/p>\n
She did not ask.<\/p>\n
That mattered.<\/p>\n
I nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The chapel stood ten minutes from the hospital, small and plain, tucked behind a row of trees.<\/p>\n
Medical transport brought Lacey.<\/p>\n
Jeremy drove separately.<\/p>\n
I followed.<\/p>\n
Inside, sunlight fell through narrow stained-glass windows.<\/p>\n
No guests.<\/p>\n
No music.<\/p>\n
No flowers.<\/p>\n
Only us.<\/p>\n
A chaplain greeted Lacey softly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not a ceremony,\u201d Lacey told him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI just want somewhere quiet.\u201d<\/p>\n
He nodded.<\/p>\n
Jeremy pushed her wheelchair toward the front.<\/p>\n
I remained several steps behind.<\/p>\n
At the first pew, Lacey stopped.<\/p>\n
She looked toward the altar.<\/p>\n
Then at Jeremy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want my ring off.\u201d<\/p>\n
His face changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ring.\u201d<\/p>\n
She held out her left hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't want to die wearing something that began with a lie.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy knelt beside her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don't have to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
His fingers shook as he touched the band.<\/p>\n
It resisted at first.<\/p>\n
Her fingers were swollen.<\/p>\n
He worked carefully.<\/p>\n
When the ring finally slipped free, Lacey exhaled.<\/p>\n
She looked at it in his palm.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor three years I wanted that to mean I had finally been chosen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy\u2019s eyes filled.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou mattered without it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know now.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish I had known sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n
I said nothing.<\/p>\n
There was nothing safe to say.<\/p>\n
Lacey held out her hand toward Jeremy.<\/p>\n
He took it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you for coming back when I was sick.\u201d<\/p>\n
He swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry for everything I did badly afterward.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMe too.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cJill.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stepped closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't need forgiveness.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n
A weak smile.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn't offering yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the first time, the three of us laughed.<\/p>\n
Quietly.<\/p>\n
Painfully.<\/p>\n
Honestly.<\/p>\n
Then Lacey\u2019s expression changed.<\/p>\n
She leaned back.<\/p>\n
Jeremy noticed first.<\/p>\n
\u201cLacey?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her breathing quickened.<\/p>\n
The nurse moved immediately.<\/p>\n
The chapel turned from stillness to motion.<\/p>\n
Oxygen.<\/p>\n
Pulse check.<\/p>\n
Wheelchair repositioned.<\/p>\n
Jeremy stepped aside.<\/p>\n
I reached for his arm without thinking.<\/p>\n
He looked down at my hand.<\/p>\n
I removed it immediately.<\/p>\n
The nurse said, \u201cWe need to go back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lacey opened her eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLacey.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n
The nurse crouched.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to stabilize you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI want hospice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy froze.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lacey looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m done.\u201d<\/p>\n
His face collapsed.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m tired.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJust go back for tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLacey.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cTell him.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cTell him what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo stop fixing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon't.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lacey\u2019s eyes remained on mine.<\/p>\n
I understood.<\/p>\n
The house.<\/p>\n
The treatments.<\/p>\n
The insurance scheme.<\/p>\n
The marriage.<\/p>\n
Every repair had been Jeremy\u2019s way of refusing helplessness.<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe gets to decide.\u201d<\/p>\n
He stared at me.<\/p>\n
Then at Lacey.<\/p>\n
His shoulders sagged.<\/p>\n
The fight went out of him.<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lacey smiled faintly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you.\u201d<\/p>\n
The nurse began arranging transfer to inpatient hospice.<\/p>\n
While she made calls, my phone vibrated.<\/p>\n
Karen.<\/p>\n
I ignored it.<\/p>\n
It rang again.<\/p>\n
Then a text appeared.<\/p>\n
Please call me before you talk to Mark. There is something else you need to know.<\/p>\n
I showed Jeremy.<\/p>\n
He closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat now?\u201d<\/p>\n
I did not answer.<\/p>\n
Because beneath Karen\u2019s message, another arrived.<\/p>\n
From an unknown number.<\/p>\n
Jill, this is Thomas Reed, Lacey\u2019s attorney. Do not let anyone destroy the original marriage application. I believe someone altered the attached statement after it was signed.<\/p>\n
Jeremy did not move. Lacey\u2019s confession seemed to settle over him physically, as though the air itself had gained weight. \u201cYou cheated on me?\u201d His voice was quiet. Not angry … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9712,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feel-one-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9722"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9722\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9765,"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9722\/revisions\/9765"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}