Chapter 3
Michael tried to take the phone.
I held it behind my back.
“What transfer?”
“Give me my phone.”
“No.”
“Sarah.”
“What transfer?”
Lauren looked from him to me.
“I don’t know anything about a transfer.”
Michael’s jaw tightened.
“Stay out of this.”
That was enough.
I opened the message thread.
He grabbed my wrist.
I screamed.
“Take your hand off me!”
Emma cried out.
Michael immediately released me.
But it was too late.
I had seen the previous message.
David had written:
You moved too much this time. She will notice.
My blood turned cold.
I looked at Michael.
“What did you move?”
“Money.”
Lauren frowned.
“What money?”
“Our money?”
Michael said nothing.
I opened our banking app on my own phone.
My password worked.
The checking account looked normal.
Savings looked normal.
Then I checked the investment account my father had helped me open years earlier.
The balance was lower.
Much lower.
I stared at the number.
At first my mind refused to understand it.
Then I refreshed.
The number stayed the same.
“Where is eighty-six thousand dollars?”
Michael closed his eyes.
Lauren whispered, “Oh my God.”
I walked toward him.
“Where is eighty-six thousand dollars?”
“I was going to replace it.”
“With what?”
“I made an investment.”
“What investment?”
He did not answer.
I looked at the message again.
“You transferred our money?”
“Some of it.”
“Eighty-six thousand dollars is not some of it.”
Emma was standing beside the stairs, watching us.
I forced my voice lower.
I would not let him turn my daughter’s home into a screaming battlefield.
Not more than he already had.
“Emma, sweetheart, go wait on the porch.”
She shook her head.
“I don’t want to leave you.”
“I’m right here.”
“No.”
Her eyes went toward Lauren.
“I don’t want her to hurt you.”
Something inside me broke.
I walked to Emma and hugged her.
“Okay. Then stay close.”
Michael looked crushed.
Good.
He should.
I opened the investment history.
There were withdrawals.
Not one.
Five.
Small at first.
Then larger.
Eleven thousand.
Sixteen thousand.
Twenty-two thousand.
Another twenty-two.
Then fifteen.
All over eighteen months.
“Where did it go?”
Michael sat down.
“Some went to the apartment.”
Lauren turned sharply.
“You told me the company paid for that place.”
He ignored her.
“Some went to medical bills when Ethan was born.”
“You said insurance covered everything,” Lauren said.
Michael rubbed his forehead.
“Lauren, please.”
She stared at him.
“You used your wife’s money?”
“Our money,” he said.
I laughed.
“You mean the money I inherited from my father?”
He looked at me.
“That account became marital property.”
“That account paid the down payment on this house.”
“I know.”
“It paid off your student debt.”
“I know.”
“It paid for Emma’s surgery when she was four.”
“I know.”
“And then you used it to finance your affair.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
“Stop saying that.”
My voice finally cracked.
“There is no version of this where it is not exactly like that.”
His phone rang again.
David.
I answered.
Michael shouted, “Sarah, don’t!”
Too late.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then David said, “Sarah?”
“Yes.”
Another silence.
“Where’s Michael?”
“Standing in front of me.”
“Can you put him on?”
“No.”
I looked straight at my husband.
“You can talk to me.”
David sighed.
“This is a family matter.”
I nearly screamed.
“I am his family.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Then explain what you meant.”
Michael shook his head at the phone.
David could not see him, but somehow I felt the warning passing between brothers.
Finally David said, “There was money involved in a property deal.”
“What property deal?”
“Sarah.”
“What property deal?”
David exhaled.
“A condo.”
Lauren’s eyes widened.
“What condo?”
Michael whispered, “David, shut up.”
I put the call on speaker.
“You bought a condo?”
“No,” Michael said quickly.
David answered, “Technically, I bought it.”
I stared at the phone.
“With my money?”
“Partially.”
“Why?”
Nobody answered.
I felt suddenly dizzy.
I sat on the arm of the chair.
Lauren looked as confused as I felt.
Then I remembered something.
Michael’s mother.
Two months earlier she had made a strange comment during dinner.
She said Michael was “finally thinking ahead.”
I had asked what she meant.
She had smiled and said, “He knows.”
At the time, I thought she meant retirement.
Now I wondered.
“Who lives in the condo?”
David was silent.
Michael walked away.
That was when I knew the answer would hurt.
“Who lives there?”
David said, “Mom.”
I blinked.
“Your mother?”
“Yes.”
I looked at Michael.
His mother had lived in the same small house for thirty years.
As far as I knew, she still did.
“What are you talking about?”
David hesitated.
“She sold her house.”
“No, she didn’t.”
“She did.”
“When?”
“Five months ago.”
I remembered visiting her six weeks earlier.
The furniture had been there.
The photos.
The flowerpots.
Her terrible green curtains.
“She was still living there.”
“She was waiting for closing.”
“Why did nobody tell me?”
Nobody answered.
Then Lauren spoke.
“Michael told me the condo was for us.”
The room went completely silent.
I turned slowly toward her.
“What?”
“He said when he left you, he was moving me and Ethan into a condo near Lakewood.”
David cursed through the phone.
Michael stared at Lauren like he wanted to make her disappear.
She continued.
“He showed me pictures.”
“Lauren.”
“He said his mother had found it for us.”
I looked at Michael.
“You bought a condo for your mistress with money from my inheritance?”
“No.”
“Then explain.”
“My mother is moving into it.”
“Then why did Lauren think it was hers?”
“She misunderstood.”
Lauren’s face turned red.
“I did not misunderstand. You took me there.”
My heart stopped.
“You’ve been inside?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
Our anniversary.
Of course.
I closed my eyes.
Michael had told me he needed to leave the restaurant early because his mother’s blood pressure was acting up.
Apparently he had taken me home.
Then gone to show his mistress a condo bought partly with my money.
I wanted to throw something.
Instead I whispered, “I’m going to Rachel’s.”
Michael stepped forward.
“We need to work through this.”
“No.”
“For Emma.”
That word from his mouth enraged me more than anything else.
“You do not get to use our daughter as a shield.”
“I’m not.”
“You had your mistress in our home while Emma could have walked in.”
“I thought she was staying at Rachel’s.”
“You stole from us.”
“I was going to put the money back.”
“You lied for two years.”
“I made mistakes.”
“Mistakes?”
I walked closer.
“A mistake is forgetting milk at the grocery store. A mistake is missing an appointment. You created an entire second life.”
Emma started crying again.
I stopped.
Enough.
I picked up her backpack.
“We’re leaving.”
Michael followed us toward the door.
“Sarah, please. Just give me tonight.”
“No.”
“One night.”
“You had two years.”
I opened the door.
Lauren spoke behind me.
“Sarah.”
I turned.
She looked smaller now.
The confidence was gone.
“I’m sorry about Emma.”
I stared at her.
“I don’t care.”
“I really am.”
“You should be.”
She lowered her eyes.
I took Emma outside.
Michael followed.
“Can I at least say goodbye to her?”
Emma looked at him.
For several seconds, neither moved.
Then Michael crouched.
“Princess.”
“Don’t call me that.”
His face changed.
Emma clutched Bunny against her chest.
“You lied to Mommy.”
“Yes.”
“And you kissed that lady.”
He swallowed.
“Yes.”
“Do you love her?”
He looked toward the house.
I hated that he hesitated.
Emma saw it too.
She began crying.
Michael reached for her.
She stepped behind me.
That movement destroyed him.
“I love you more than anything,” he said.
Emma wiped her face.
“If you loved me, you wouldn’t make Mommy cry.”
Then she got into my car.
Michael stood frozen on the driveway.
I opened my door.
He said, “Sarah, I never wanted you to find out like this.”
I looked at him across the roof.
“How did you want me to find out?”
He had no answer.
I drove away.
Halfway to Rachel’s house, my phone rang.
It was a number I didn’t recognize.
I ignored it.
It rang again.
Then a text appeared.
Mrs. Carter, my name is Daniel Reeves. I’m an attorney representing a client regarding your husband. You need to speak with me before Michael has a chance to move any more assets.
I nearly drove off the road.
May you like
At the next light, another message appeared.
This is bigger than an affair.
