The following version of the novel was used to create this study guide: Belle, Kimberly. The Marriage Lie. MIRA. December 27, 2016.

In The Marriage Lie by Kimberly Belle, Iris Griffith learns how little she knew about her husband, Will, after he is allegedly killed in a plane crash. Iris had believed that her husband was on a plane to a conference in Orlando. Instead, he was on a flight to Seattle. As Iris investigates why her husband was going to Seattle, she learns more about her husband than she had ever imagined.

On their seventh anniversary, Will tells Iris he wants to start a family. He gives her a Cartier trinity ring that she knows they cannot afford. Will explains to her that the ring represents their love, friendship, and fidelity. She loves it because of how much thought he put into the gift. Later that morning, Will is assumed to be on a plane bound for Seattle that crashes. Iris is devastated because she is being told that her husband is dead. Also, she had thought he was going to a conference in Orlando.

After Iris receives a sympathy card from a high school in Seattle, she and her twin brother Dave pay a visit to Seattle. They discover that Will had lived in Seattle his entire life. He had never lived in Memphis as he had told Iris. His parents were alcoholics and abusive. During his high school years, there was a fire in the apartment building where Will and his parents lived. Will’s mother and two children were killed. Several people believed that Will was responsible for setting the fire.

Shortly after Iris returns to her hometown of Atlanta, she gets a call from Will's boss. When she meets with him, he tells her more than $4.5 million is missing from the company where Will had worked. It is suspected that Will was responsible for stealing the money. About this same time, Iris begins getting threatening text messages on her phone as well as text messages from a person claiming to be Will. Iris hires Evan Sheffield, a lawyer whose wife and baby daughter was killed in a plane crash, to advise her if she could be held responsible if Will had really stolen from his company.

Evan suggests that Iris take her story to the police. He also has the two numbers from which she has been receiving text messages traced. When they discover that Corban Hayes, a man who claimed to be a friend of Will’s from the gym, is sending the texts and identifying himself as Will, Evan warns Iris to stay away from Corban.

Even though Iris had a new alarm system put in her house, Corban breaks into Iris’ house and holds her hostage. He claims that he was the mastermind behind the embezzlement from AppSec. By holding Iris hostage, he hopes that Will might come to save her and Corban can get the money he believes Will owes him. Corban does not count on Evan calling the police because he senses something is wrong with Iris. The police surround the house, and Will takes advantage of the situation to shoot Corban. Because none of the officers surrounding the house fired the deadly shot, Iris is convinced that Will is still alive and that he saved her life.

Even though Iris knows that her husband stands to be charged with murder and embezzlement, she tells the detective the truth about her suspicions that Will killed Corban. They believe that Will will contact Iris. He does finally show up one day and asks her to run away with him. Even though Iris recognizes how much she loves Will, she knows she cannot leave her family and her life. Will says that he lied to her because he did not think she would love him if she knew what he had been like in Seattle. Iris believes people are capable of changing, but she also believes that they should take responsibility for their actions. Under cover of making love to Will one last time, Iris pushes the panic button on the alarm system, summoning the police to her home to arrest Will.