My husband hid our secret from me...and it cost us our lives.

It’s been over a decade since the fire. The ash is long gone, and most people have forgotten. But I still think about it every night. I still wonder why it had to happen. <br><br>My name is Lucinda Marshall. I met my husband, Jax, at a bar when I was twenty-one. We met on a night out with friends, and it was love at first sight. Well, maybe not love, but we had sex on the bathroom floor within thirty minutes of meeting. That's love. <br><br>Jax had a dark past, and a darker present. He was an addict. He was reckless. But I loved him for who he was. I still do. <br><br>When we met, we were living in a dingy studio apartment with four roommates and a cockroach infestation. It was horrible, but we were happy. We were in love, and we had big plans for the future. <br><br>Then, the fire happened. <br><br>We lived in a small town called Green Valley. It was the sort of place where everyone knew each other's names, and nothing ever happened. Green Valley was a place to pass through. It was never meant to be a home. <br><br>My husband had a small apartment above his workshop. It wasn't much, but he had plans to renovate. He was saving for a house. We had just moved in, and our lives were finally starting to look up. <br><br>It started on a Tuesday night. I was working late, and Jax was out drinking. He called me around 10 PM to say he'd be home late. I told him okay, and we said our goodbyes. Then, at 11:30 PM, the phone rang again. This time, it was the police. <br><br>An APD officer told me there had been a fire at Jax's apartment. He was alive, but the place was destroyed. I hung up the phone and drove straight there. When I arrived, the bottom half of the building was burned to a crisp. The flames had been put out, but not before they destroyed everything. <br><br>I watched as Jax emerged from the wreckage. His face was blackened, his hair singed. He was covered in bruises and cuts, but he looked perfectly fine. Then, I saw it. A small burn mark on his left hand. <br><br>I didn't ask about it then. I was too worried about Jax to notice the burn. But when we got back to our place, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. <br><br>Jax went straight to bed. I waited until he was asleep, then I went into the bathroom to take a shower. As I stood under the running water, I noticed my right hand was sore. I looked down to see a small, red mark. It was a mirror image of the mark on Jax's hand. <br><br>I turned off the water and stepped out to look at it closer. It was a small burn mark, like Jax's. I didn't know what it was, but I knew I had to find out. <br><br>I got out of the shower and went to wake Jax. As I shook him, he woke with a start. <br><br>"What the fuck?!" he shouted, his eyes wide with fear. <br><br>I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what was going on. So I just asked, "What is this?" I held up my hand for him to see. <br><br>Jax looked at my hand, then he looked at me. I swear, I've never seen such fear in his eyes. He looked like he was going to bolt out the door and run. <br><br>"It's just a mark," he said, his voice shaking. "It means nothing." <br><br>I didn't believe him. I could tell he was hiding something, but I didn't know what. So I asked again, "What is it?" <br><br>Jax stood up, then he sat back down. He looked like he was about to pass out. <br><br>"It's...it's the Secret," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. <br><br>I had no idea what he was talking about. So I asked, "What secret?" <br><br>The answer, I would later learn, would change my life forever.