Chapter 1

On our fifth wedding anniversary, I received a photo of my husband cheating on me.

In it, he was shirtless in a hotel bed, with his young secretary curled sweetly against his chest.

Seven years ago, that girl had been one of the students I sponsored.

The photo came from Maren.

I was sitting at my vanity doing my makeup, with the black dress I planned to wear that night laid across the bed behind me.

Callum had told me that morning he'd pick me up at seven. He'd planned our anniversary dinner himself and refused to tell me where we were going.

It was 6:25.

I zoomed in on the photo.

Callum's face was unmistakable. His wedding ring was still on his finger. Tessa was pressed against his chest, white sheets tangled around their waists.

There was no way to mistake them for a boss and his secretary.

I texted Maren.

"Where did you get this?"

Her reply came almost immediately.

"Tessa's private account. She deleted it later, but I recognized Callum."

Then another message appeared.

"I'm sorry, Lenora. I thought you should know."

I didn't reply.

Of course Maren recognized Callum.

Seven years ago, I'd sponsored two college students from struggling families. Maren was one of them. Tessa was the other.

Maren eventually moved to the East Coast for work. Tessa joined Callum's company two years ago and became his secretary last year.

After her promotion, she'd even taken me out to lunch.

"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be where I am today," she'd told me, raising her glass.

I'd smiled and corrected her.

"You earned this yourself."

Apparently, she was very good at going after what she wanted.

I searched the username from Maren's screenshot and found Tessa's private account.

She'd hidden it well, but traces of older public posts were still there. It took only a few minutes of scrolling before I could no longer convince myself that the hotel photo was some isolated misunderstanding.

For months, she'd been posting pieces of Callum's life.

His car. His office. Hotels he'd stayed at on business trips. Photos where his face was carefully kept out of frame, but the intimacy between them was impossible to mistake.

The pictures weren't what made my blood run cold.

The dates were.

The late nights I'd believed were work. The sudden business trips. The canceled dinners. The midnight phone calls.

One after another, they lined up.

Three months.

At least three months.

I turned my phone facedown on the vanity.

The room went painfully quiet.

In the mirror, my makeup was only half finished. A pearl earring hung from one ear while the other still sat untouched on the table.

I stared at my reflection and suddenly laughed.

Seven years ago, I'd paid Tessa's tuition.

Two years ago, when she joined Callum's company, I'd personally called HR and told them not to give her special treatment because of me. All I wanted was for her to have a fair chance.

A year ago, when she became Callum's secretary, I'd actually been happy for her.

Now she was sleeping with my husband.

That was when the tears came.

I wiped one away.

Another followed.

It was 6:40.

I should have called Callum.

I should have called Tessa and demanded to know what those pictures meant.

Instead, I stared at Callum's name on my screen and couldn't make myself press the button.

Because even then, none of it felt real.

In five years of marriage, Callum had never given me a reason to doubt him.

He remembered every anniversary. He texted me the moment his plane landed because he knew I'd worry. When my stomach hurt, he'd take the wineglass straight out of my hand. In winter, he always warmed up the car before I stepped outside.

Even that morning, before leaving for work, he'd reminded me again.

"Seven o'clock. You remember, right?"

I laughed.

"That's the third time you've told me."

"You were late to our first date."

"Twelve minutes. You've held on to that for seven years?"

Callum bent down and kissed my forehead.

"I have a very good memory when it comes to you."

How could that man be sleeping with Tessa?

I knew the photos already told me more than I wanted to know, but when you're terrified of an answer, you'll cling to even the smallest reason not to believe it.

Maybe the pictures had been manipulated.

Maybe Tessa had developed some unhealthy obsession with Callum and pieced together real moments from work to create a relationship that didn't exist.

Even I knew how weak those explanations sounded.

But I needed to hear the truth from Callum.

At 6:59, headlights swept across the bedroom curtains.

He was home.

I shut off my phone and had barely wiped the smudged makeup from beneath my eyes when the bedroom door opened.

Callum stood in the doorway.

The faint smile on his face disappeared the moment he saw me.

"Have you been crying?"

He crossed the room and tilted my face up, studying me for a couple of seconds.

"What happened?"

My phone was still in my hand.

The photo was right there.

All I had to do was show it to him and say Tessa's name.

"I had a headache this afternoon."

Callum frowned and pressed his palm to my forehead.

"Then we're not going out tonight."

"I'm fine now."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

He watched me for another moment, then noticed the single earring.

The other pearl was still on the vanity.

Callum picked it up and stepped behind me, gently sweeping my hair aside.

"How did you forget the other one?"

I watched him in the mirror.

The man in the photograph and the man standing behind me had the same face. Even the same wedding ring.

Yet the way he fastened my earring was so familiar, so effortless, that for a moment it felt as though nothing in the last five years had changed.

"Callum."

"Yeah?"

My fingers tightened around my phone.

His eyes lifted to mine in the mirror.

"What is it?"

The question was already on my tongue.

But Callum finished fastening the earring, then leaned down and kissed my temple.

"Happy anniversary."

Suddenly, I couldn't ask.

"Happy anniversary."

He picked up the black dress from the bed and handed it to me.

"Ten minutes. I'll wait downstairs."

I took the dress.

At the door, Callum glanced back at my eyes.

"You really okay?"

"I'm fine."

Only then did he leave.

Ten minutes later, I came downstairs dressed and ready.

Callum was waiting by the front door.

He held out his hand.

My eyes dropped to his wedding ring.

I hesitated for only a second before placing my hand in his.

His fingers closed around mine, just as they had countless times before.

I walked out of the house with him without mentioning Tessa or showing him the photos.

Those pictures had given me every reason to doubt him.

But the man beside me still remembered our anniversary, was ready to cancel the entire evening because I'd been crying, and had fastened my earring as naturally as he'd done a hundred times before.

And some part of me still wanted to believe him.

Maybe there really was another explanation for Tessa's photos.

I knew how foolish that hope was.

But until I heard the truth from Callum himself, I chose to believe in the five years we'd shared.

At least for one more night.