Chapter 3

Two months ago, Callum promised me a weekend away.

On Wednesday, I discovered he had already taken it.

Just not with me.

I was looking for my passport when a parking receipt slipped from the drawer.

Briar Lake Lodge. Two nights. The date matched the "supplier trip" Callum took last month.

I stared at the printed name. That was the exact hotel Callum promised me.

But last month, he didn't take me there. He told me he had a business trip. He said he had to visit a supplier that weekend.

A parking receipt alone did not prove who had stayed there. I opened Tessa’s public profile to check the date.

I had avoided it for weeks. Looking had begun to feel like picking at something I wanted to heal.

Now I scrolled back to that Saturday.

Her first photograph showed a breakfast tray on a terrace. Beyond the railing lay the same narrow stretch of lake from the hotel's website.

My attention went to the edge of the table.

A man's arm rested on the white tablecloth. He wore a silver watch. Next to his arm were a pair of car keys.

I knew that watch. I bought it for Callum.

So were his car keys, attached to the leather tag I had stamped with his initials one Christmas.

Then I lowered the phone.

The photographs did not show what happened inside the room.

They did show that the weekend Callum promised me had been spent with Tessa.

When he came home that evening, I gave him one chance to explain the lodge without telling him what I had found.

I saved the photographs and put my passport in my bag.

Then I opened my suitcase.

That evening, Callum came home carrying groceries. He lifted a carton of strawberries from the bag and set it in front of me.

"Your favorites."

I used to rinse them while he put everything else away. Sometimes he fed me one over the sink.

I left the carton closed.

"Callum," I asked softly. "Are we still going to that lake hotel? The one you promised me?"

He took off his coat. He didn't look guilty at all.

"Of course, babe," he smiled. "I am just really busy right now. Let me finish this big project first. Then I will take you."

He walked over and kissed my forehead. "I even picked out a room for us. It has a beautiful private terrace."

My stomach turned.

I remembered Tessa's photo. She was sitting on a beautiful private terrace. She was eating breakfast there.

I closed the carton and carried it to the refrigerator.

His answer confirmed that the "supplier trip" was another lie, and that he still expected the promise of a future weekend to end the conversation.

I turned around. I took the dinner I kept warm for him. I put it straight into the fridge.

"I am tired," I told him. "I am going to rest."

Instead of resting, I went to the guest room. I locked the door and continued packing my bags.

Callum unpacked the groceries while I locked the guest-room door and continued filling my suitcase.

The next morning, he acted like the perfect husband.

"Don't forget Friday night," he reminded me. "Just the two of us. A table for two."

He smiled, reading my silence as agreement.

The original agreement was already with Caroline, and Nora was scheduled to collect me while he sat at the anniversary restaurant.

I smiled back. "I won't forget."

I packed medication, work files, chargers, and enough clothes for two weeks. The remaining boxes could be collected after Caroline sent the formal notice.

Buzz.

My phone lit up. It was a text from my sister.

[Friday, 8:00 p. m. I will wait at the side entrance.]

I looked at the screen. I typed my reply.

[I’ll be ready before Callum leaves the restaurant.]