Chapter 3
The first message was dated five months earlier.
Sloane had sent Theo a picture from the apartment upstairs.
Wish you were still here.
His reply came less than a minute later.
Give me an hour. I need to calm Maren down first.
I kept scrolling.
Every late meeting was there. Every dinner he claimed was with a supplier. Every night he told me I was imagining things.
One message had been sent the night he brought me flowers after our worst argument.
She bought it, Theo had written. I'll come over when she falls asleep.
My hand shook around the phone.
The pain was still there. I had loved him enough to believe every apology. I had spent months asking him to choose our marriage while he was making plans with her.
I used to think the right question could force the truth out of him.
Now the truth was in my hand, and I didn't need to hear him say it.
I photographed the messages, put the phone back in the drawer, and returned the spare keys to the office.
I didn't call Theo.
Nine days later, Cole House opened.
The dining room was full before seven. Sloane stood beside Theo near the entrance, greeting reporters as if they had built the restaurant together.
I checked the last item on the handover list and gave Sloane the master key.
"That's everything," I said.
She closed her fingers around it. "You made this easy for me."
"That was the idea."
Vivian tapped a spoon against her glass and called everyone closer. She carried the Cole family recipe book in both hands.
"This belongs with the woman who'll carry Cole House into the future," she said.
She gave it to Sloane.
People applauded. Sloane looked at me over Vivian's shoulder, waiting for a reaction.
I picked up my coat.
Theo caught my hand. "Where are you going?"
"My work is finished."
"Stay through the photographs." His grip softened. "I booked us a weekend away after this. Just the two of us. We can fix things."
A year ago, I would've heard that as a promise.
Now I knew he had probably messaged Sloane before making the reservation.
"You should enjoy tonight," I said.
His eyes narrowed. He was still searching my face for anger.
Sloane walked over with a printed magazine proof. The headline paired her name with Theo's and called them the team behind Cole House.
"Theo approved it," she said. "I didn't want you to be surprised."
"I'm not."
The photographer called Theo and Sloane toward the fireplace. Then he noticed me.
"Mrs. Cole, we'll get one with you too."
Sloane's smile disappeared. "The article is about Theo and me. Adding Maren will confuse the story."
Theo looked at her, then at me.
He lowered his voice. "Can you sit this one out? I don't want an argument in front of the press."
"Of course," I said.
His shoulders relaxed.
I handed him the final folder.
"The staff schedules are inside. Sloane has every password and key. If anything goes wrong tonight, ask her."
Theo frowned. "What does that mean?"
"It means the handover is complete."
I walked out before the photographs began.
At home, I placed the divorce papers and printed screenshots on the kitchen counter. I left my wedding ring on top.
Then I took my suitcase and my mother's recipe files and drove to Bellflower Bakery.
The new key turned easily in the lock.
By the time Theo finished celebrating with Sloane, I was standing inside the place that had always been mine.
He would come home to the truth, the divorce papers, and an empty house.
I wouldn't be there.