Chapter 2
I picked up the necklace.
My fingers trembled as I turned it over.
The engraving was small, neat, and permanent.
*To my Sophia, forever yours.*
I held it up between us.
"Forever?" I whispered. "You told me you were working late. You told me you were in meetings. You told me you missed me."
Daniel stepped forward, hands raised like he was calming a wild animal.
"Emma, please—let me explain—"
"Explain what?" I shouted. "That you've been taking our daughter's lunch money and spending it on hotels for your mistress? That you've been lying to me for months while I sat home wondering why you were so distant?"
Sophia stood by the wall, still holding her cheek. She looked smaller now. Less confident.
"He told me you were separated," she said quietly. "He said you were getting divorced."
I laughed. A harsh, bitter sound.
"We were not separated. We had dinner together three nights ago. He read our daughter a bedtime story. He kissed me goodnight."
I looked at Daniel.
"You told her that?"
He said nothing. He just looked at the floor.
The silence told me everything.
He had told her whatever she needed to hear.
And he had told me whatever I needed to hear.
May you like
And in the middle of it all—he had been living two lives.
Paying for both with our money.
