Chapter 2

The next morning, something had changed.

Not in me.

In them.

Seraphina sat across from Callum instead of beside him.

When Milo asked Callum to open a jar of jam, Callum reached for it automatically, then stopped.

“Your mom can help you.”

Seraphina no longer reminded Callum where he had left his keys. Callum stopped asking whether Milo had taken his vitamins.

Whenever I entered a room, their conversations ended too quickly.

They knew I had opened the folder.

They just did not know what I had found.

That afternoon, while searching my phone for an unpaid hospital bill, I noticed a bank notification I had missed.

The alert had arrived during the chaotic days before Isla’s birth. I had cleared it without reading.

LARGE TRANSFER COMPLETED: $18,000.

The money had come from our joint savings account three days before Isla was born.

I opened the transaction.

The recipient was Harbor Point Properties. The reference showed only an apartment number.

Callum had never moved that much money from our savings without discussing it with me.

I took screenshots, then went into his study.

He kept our tax files in the bottom drawer of his desk.

Behind them, I found a lease confirmation bearing the same apartment number.

Tenant: Seraphina Vale.

Deposit received: $18,000.

My sister had been talking about moving closer to Milo’s school.

Callum was paying for the apartment.

I searched the rest of the drawer and found a thin envelope marked M.V.

Inside were payment records arranged by year.

Milo’s preschool.

Medical insurance.

Dental bills.

Summer programs.

The first payment had been made five weeks after Milo’s birth. The most recent had gone out three days before Isla was born.

Most of the money had come from Callum’s personal account. The eighteen thousand dollars was the first payment he had taken directly from our joint savings.

That was why I had never seen the pattern before.

Callum had not made one frightened payment after learning he had a son.

He had maintained a second family for six years.

I photographed every page and returned the envelope exactly where I had found it.

That evening, while Seraphina helped Milo bathe, I went back to the guest room.

The blue folder was no longer in her bag.

I found it beneath the clothes in her suitcase.

She had moved it.

I photographed the paternity test, including the date and Callum’s signature, then placed it back behind Milo’s birth certificate.

I sent everything to a new email account protected by a password Callum could not guess.

Next, I gathered my passport, Isla’s birth certificate, our medical records, and copies of the insurance and tax documents.

I changed the passwords on my personal bank account and email.

Then I contacted a divorce attorney.

Her initial reply was brief.

Do not confront either of them. Do not move or hide marital funds until we discuss what you can legally use.

Secure your personal documents and preserve every record. I can meet with you tomorrow morning.

My doctor had told me to take the first six weeks slowly.

I needed thirty days.

Thirty days to recover enough to travel.

Thirty days to collect evidence.

Thirty days to secure a job and somewhere to live.

Thirty days to learn what I needed to do to protect Isla legally.

I opened a private note on my phone.

30 DAYS UNTIL I LEAVE

Documents secured.

Financial records copied.

One lie confirmed.

Tomorrow, twenty-nine days would remain.