Chapter 7: The Truth Jenna Was Trying to Expose
I stared at the message for almost a minute before I answered.
My thumb hovered above the screen.
Part of me wanted to ignore it.
That would have been easier.
If I ignored Jenna, I could keep the story simple.
Daniel hurt me.
Daniel lied.
Daniel chose another woman.
End of story.
But life rarely gave people the comfort of simple endings.
And now there was a question I couldn’t stop asking.
Why would Jenna warn me?
Why would someone who had been secretly close to my husband tell me to be careful with him?
I typed slowly.
*What did you find out?*
The reply came almost immediately.
*Can we meet?*
I looked at the words.
Meet.
The last thing I wanted was to sit across from the woman who had become part of my nightmare.
But curiosity was stronger than anger.
And somewhere deep inside, I knew I needed answers.
*Where?*
A few seconds later:
*The coffee shop near your office. Tomorrow at 10.*
I stared at the message.
Then I locked my phone.
Emily watched me from across the table.
“You’re meeting her.””
I looked up.
“How did you know?””
She pointed at my face.
“You get that expression when you’ve already decided something but you’re trying to convince yourself you haven’t.””
I sighed.
“Is that annoying?””
“Yes.””
I smiled faintly for the first time in days.
“Thank you for your honesty.””
“That’s what I’m here for.””
Then her expression softened.
“Are you sure?””
“No.””
That was the truth.
“I’m not sure about anything anymore.””
The next morning, I sat across from Jenna Parker.
The woman whose name had appeared on my husband’s phone.
The woman I had imagined a hundred different ways.
A villain.
A temptation.
A stranger who had stolen something from me.
But sitting there, I noticed something I didn’t expect.
She looked exhausted.
Not confident.
Not smug.
Not like someone who had won.
She looked like someone carrying a burden.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then Jenna placed her coffee down.
“Thank you for coming.””
I didn’t respond.
She nodded.
“I know you probably hate me.””
“I don’t know you enough to hate you.””
Her eyes lowered.
“That might be worse.””
I studied her.
“Why did you ask to meet?””
She took a deep breath.
“Because Daniel isn’t the person you think he is.””
The words irritated me immediately.
Not because they were wrong.
Because I had heard versions of them before.
“He cheated on me,” I said.
“Yes.””
She looked directly at me.
“He did.””
The honesty surprised me.
No excuses.
No defense.
No attempt to make herself look innocent.
“You’re not denying it?””
“No.””
“Why?””
“Because I’m not innocent.””
She looked down.
“But I also don’t want you to believe the worst thing he did was what happened with me.””
My fingers tightened around my cup.
“What does that mean?””
Jenna was quiet for a moment.
Then she reached into her bag.
She pulled out a folder.
“I found this six months ago.””
She pushed it across the table.
I didn’t touch it.
“What is it?””
“Records.””
“Of what?””
“Daniel.””
My stomach tightened.
“Explain.””
Jenna looked uncomfortable.
“Before I started working with him, I was assigned to help with a project at his company.””
I nodded.
“Okay.””
“He was well-liked. Everyone thought he was reliable.””
“That sounds like Daniel.””
“Yes.””
She paused.
“But then I noticed something.””
“What?””
“He was very good at making people believe a version of him.””
I stayed silent.
“He would make promises he didn’t keep. He would shift blame when things went wrong. He was always the victim in every story.””
My chest tightened.
Because I had seen pieces of that.
But I had always called it stress.
Not character.
“What does this have to do with me?””
Jenna opened the folder.
Inside were printed documents.
Emails.
Reports.
Names.
“I found out Daniel had been hiding financial problems.””
I looked at her.
“What?””
She nodded.
“Not normal expenses. Not a few bad decisions.””
She pushed a document toward me.
“Debt.””
I scanned the page.
The numbers blurred slightly.
“Why would you have this?””
“Because I was trying to understand why he was acting strangely.””
“And you found this?””
“Yes.””
I looked up.
“And you thought sleeping with him would help?””
The question came out sharper than I intended.
Jenna accepted it.
“I know how it looks.””
“No. Tell me how it is.””
She took a breath.
“I got too close.””
“That’s not an answer.””
“No.””
She looked down.
“It isn’t.””
The silence stretched.
Finally, she said:
“I liked him.””
There it was.
The truth.
Simple.
Painful.
Human.
“I liked the version of him I saw at first.””
I looked away.
“Everyone does.””
She nodded.
“That’s the problem.””
Jenna explained that after months of working together, Daniel started talking about his marriage.
But not honestly.
Not completely.
“He told me you two were struggling,” she said.
I almost laughed.
“Of course he did.””
“He said you were unhappy.””
“I was unhappy because I was married to someone who was emotionally somewhere else.””
Jenna looked ashamed.
“I know that now.””
I looked at her.
“How?””
“Because I saw how he talked about you when you weren’t around.””
“What do you mean?””
She hesitated.
“He didn’t talk about you like someone he hated.””
I frowned.
“Then how?””
“Like someone he was afraid of disappointing.””
That answer caught me off guard.
Because it didn’t match the man I had seen.
The man who lied.
The man who left me alone.
The man who chose someone else.
“He said he loved me,” I whispered.
Jenna nodded.
“I believe you.””
That surprised me.
“You do?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“Because I think Daniel does love you.””
I looked at her.
“But he still hurt me.””
“Yes.””
The answer came immediately.
“He can love you and still hurt you.””
The words sat heavily between us.
Because that was the truth I had been fighting against.
It would have been easier if he didn’t love me.
If he had simply stopped caring.
But sometimes the people who love you are still capable of destroying your trust.
I looked through the documents again.
One page caught my attention.
A bank transfer.
A large amount.
The recipient name was unfamiliar.
“What is this?””
Jenna’s expression changed.
“That’s why I contacted you.””
“Why?””
“Because I think Daniel has been lying about more than the affair.””
I looked at the document.
“What is this payment?””
“I don’t know exactly.””
“You don’t know?””
“No.””
She leaned closer.
“But I know where it came from.””
I looked at her.
“Where?””
“Your joint account.””
The words made my entire body go cold.
“What?””
“Claire…”
“No.””
I shook my head.
“That’s impossible.””
Jenna didn’t argue.
She just looked sad.
“I wanted it to be impossible too.””
My hands started trembling.
Because suddenly, the betrayal was no longer just emotional.
It was something bigger.
Something that affected my life.
My future.
My security.
“When did you find this?”” I asked.
“Before the conference.””
“And you didn’t tell me?””
Her eyes filled with guilt.
“I was scared.””
“Of what?””
She looked away.
“Because Daniel found out I knew.””
A chill moved through me.
“What happened?””
Jenna’s voice dropped.
“He threatened me.””
The coffee shop noise faded around us.
“What did he say?””
She swallowed.
“He said if I told anyone, he would make sure I lost my job.””
I stared at her.
The man I had married.
The man who said he was afraid of losing me.
The man who claimed he made one mistake.
Suddenly, I wasn’t looking at a broken marriage anymore.
I was looking at a much bigger secret.
My phone buzzed.
A message from Daniel.
I opened it.
*Claire, please call me. I need to tell you something before Jenna does.*
I froze.
Because he already knew.
He knew I had met her.
I looked at Jenna.
“How would he know?””
Her face went pale.
“He must have seen us.””
“Or?””
She didn’t answer.
But her silence said enough.
Because there was only one other possibility.
Someone had been watching.
May you like
And for the first time since this nightmare began, I wondered if Daniel wasn’t just hiding the truth.
I wondered if he was trying to control who could reveal it.
