Chapter 2

Early the next morning, Carter walked through the front door just before breakfast.

He was dressed in a crisp light-gray suit, wearing the same warm smile that had fooled me for years. In one hand was a bag of fresh croissants from an upscale bakery.

In the other, a cartoon-shaped doughnut Noah loved.

"Gwen, we had a PR crisis at work last night. My phone died, too. I'm sorry I made you worry."

He set the breakfast on the table, slipped off his jacket, and reached for my waist like it was second nature.

I instinctively stepped back, pretending to reach for my coffee instead.

"It's fine. Work comes first."

As I looked at the man I'd shared the last ten years with, a tiny part of me still clung to hope.

Maybe there was an explanation for that pregnancy report.

Maybe Victoria really was just a business partner.

Maybe those photos had been faked.

I met his eyes.

"Carter, the beach house we bought for our seventh anniversary has been sitting empty. I was thinking about taking Noah there this weekend."

Something flickered across his eyes before he forced a laugh.

"They've been doing roadwork around there lately. It's noisy as hell. Let's wait until it's finished."

He paused for only a second.

"Oh, and the company's been a little tight on cash. I'm planning to use the house as collateral for a loan."

He didn't even look away.

The lie rolled off his tongue without the slightest hesitation.

When he turned around, I caught him casually deleting a notification that had popped up on his second phone.

The movement was practiced.

Too practiced.

The last bit of warmth inside me slowly disappeared.

At eight-thirty, I dropped Noah off at school like I always did.

He waved happily.

"Bye, Mommy!"

I forced myself to smile back before getting into my car.

It took nearly two hours to drive from Manhattan to the Hamptons.

By one o'clock, I'd parked a block away beneath the shade of a tree. I slipped on my sunglasses and walked toward the house that suddenly felt both familiar and completely foreign.

The neighborhood was quiet, the salty ocean breeze drifting through the air.

Standing outside the ornate wrought-iron gate, I looked into the backyard.

And froze.

Carter had taken off his suit jacket, leaving only a white dress shirt.

His arm carefully supported a young woman whose rounded belly was impossible to miss.

Victoria.

"Carter, when are you finally going to divorce your wife?"

Victoria pouted.

"My baby's getting bigger every day. Are you really going to let our child be born without your name?"

"And don't forget next Wednesday's gala. The Foster family is one of the event's biggest sponsors."

She folded her arms.

"If I'm not the woman on your arm, you can kiss that twenty-million-dollar investment from my family goodbye."

Carter smiled and gently tapped the tip of her nose.

"Easy, baby."

His voice was impossibly tender.

"She's easy to handle. She's depended on me for years."

"Once I convince her to mortgage every property she owns and move the money into my hands, I'll divorce her and she'll walk away with nothing."

"Now that's more like it."

Victoria slipped into his arms with a satisfied smile.

"What about the company shares?"

"They'll all be transferred to you and our baby."

He kissed her forehead.

"I already wasted ten years of my life on her."

"Why should she get a single cent of what belongs to me?"

Standing beneath the tree, I couldn't feel my hands anymore.

Ten years of marriage.

Ten years of building a life together.

To him, I'd been nothing more than someone he could use... and throw away whenever it suited him.

He hadn't just betrayed our marriage.

He was trying to steal the last safe place Noah and I had left.

The final piece of hope inside me shattered.

Silently, I pulled out my phone.

I captured every embrace, every kiss, every word in crystal-clear photos and video.

When I turned away, my eyes were dry.

No tears came.

Only an endless, frozen emptiness remained.

Ten years.

That was where our story ended.