Chapter 3

At six twenty that evening, I parked across from the clinic.

Nathan arrived ten minutes later.

He got out of his car and hurried toward the entrance. Before he reached the door, Sophie stepped outside.

She was blonde, just like the woman in the security images.

Her pregnancy was impossible to miss.

Nathan placed one hand against her back. When she said something, he smiled and bent closer to hear her.

He looked like a worried husband.

I had seen him use that same gentle expression with me.

Sophie gave him an ultrasound picture. He studied it for several seconds before pulling her into his arms.

I gripped the steering wheel.

I had come here hoping the records were wrong.

Now I watched my husband kiss another woman’s forehead.

They got into Nathan’s car.

I followed them.

Nathan did not return to his office. He drove straight to Riverside Heights.

I waited until they entered the building. Then I used the access code from the lease email to enter the lobby.

The elevator stopped on the twelfth floor.

Their apartment door was not completely closed.

I heard Sophie before I reached it.

"You can’t keep delaying this. When are you leaving Amelia?"

"I’m not leaving her," Nathan replied. "She’s my wife."

Sophie sounded stunned. "Then what happens to me and the baby?"

"Give me time," he said. "I’ll take care of both homes. No one has to lose everything."

My blood froze in my veins.

Nathan wasn’t conflicted. He wasn’t struggling to make a painful choice.

He wanted both.

He believed he could keep both of us.

He believed Sophie would wait in the apartment he paid for, surrounded by baby furniture.

He believed I would remain in our house, wearing his ring and trusting every excuse.

To Nathan, neither of us was a person who could leave.

We were two parts of the life he wanted.

I turned around. I walked back to the elevator without making a single sound.

I drove back to our penthouse. The home that now felt like a beautifully decorated cage.

The wedding photographs stayed on the wall. The expensive jewelry he had bought over the years stayed in its case.

I went straight to the safe. I packed my ID, my passport, and our joint asset documents. I took everything that legally belonged to me.

I copied the account statements and photographed every balance.

Then I packed clothes, medication, and the few things I could not replace.

My suitcase stood beside the door when I opened the bottom drawer of my desk.

The medical report was still inside.

Pregnancy confirmed: ten weeks.

I had planned to place it inside Nathan’s anniversary card.

I had imagined his surprise. I had imagined him holding me and saying that our waiting was finally over.

Now Sophie was carrying his child too.

I could not tell which pregnancy had begun first.

It no longer mattered.

My phone rang.

Nathan.

I let it ring until the room became silent again.

Then I removed my wedding ring.

I placed it on the dining table beside the photograph of the second key.

The original key was already back in Nathan’s coat. I wanted him to know I had found it, while the extent of my evidence remained mine to reveal.

I put my pregnancy report beside the ring.

I carried my suitcase outside and placed it in the car.

Before I started the engine, my phone buzzed.

A message from Nathan appeared.

Amy, why aren’t you answering? I’m bringing your anniversary gift home. Please wait for me.

I read it once.

Nathan still thought a gift could return the evening to normal.

He still thought I would be waiting when he arrived.

I put the phone on the passenger seat and started the car.

Before pulling away from the house, I switched the phone off.