Chapter 1

The sender's name was saved as: My Blake.

My breath hitched in my throat.

I didn't know if Melissa was just that arrogant, or if she simply trusted me that much.

There was no passcode.

I tapped into the chat with "My Blake."

The earliest messages dated back to August, three years ago. Back then, it was just normal work correspondence:

"Proposal revised and sent."

That was when I was helping her survive the most grueling phase of her startup.

She used to tell me the board was putting too much pressure on her, that the investor due diligence was too intense. She stayed late at the office constantly and occasionally slept at a hotel.

But by Valentine's Day last year, the tone of the messages had shifted.

"Everyone else gets flowers for Valentine's Day. I just want a wire from you."

Right below that was a notification for a five-thousand-dollar transfer.

"Love you. Same place tonight?"

I remembered that day. Melissa didn't come home at all that night.

She finally walked through the door the following evening, smelling of stale alcohol.

The second she walked in, she threw her arms around me.

"God, thank you for holding down the fort."

"I'm doing all this for us, Ethan. For the family."

On my birthday, she gave me a watch that cost a little over two thousand dollars.

"Thanks for everything. I'll get you something better next year."

That exact same day, she wired ten thousand dollars to Blake.

Blake had replied:

"Thanks, babe. You drop this kind of cash on the stay-at-home husband?"

Melissa's response:

"He can't even compare to you."

Those words were like a needle driving straight into my eyes.

Noah was sitting on the floor, humming a song while clutching a toy car, the sunlight catching his soft blond hair.

I kept scrolling.

The last message was from yesterday.

"Babe, can we go public at the gala?"

Melissa's reply followed immediately.

"Yes. We tell our story tonight. At the gala, I'm announcing the wedding."

My entire world collapsed in that single second.

Go public?

Getting married?

Who was she getting married to?

The front door lock suddenly clicked.

Melissa pushed the door open, her eyes sweeping the living room.

"I left my black phone. Have you seen it?"

"Noah found it."

I walked over and handed it to her.

"Careful. You wouldn't want to lose something this important."

She snatched the phone from my hand, instantly hit the power button to black out the screen, and shoved it into the inner pocket of her blazer.

The whole sequence took less than three seconds.

"I've just been swamped," she said, clearing her throat. "Gala prep is a nightmare."

"You should get going."

She paused, reaching up to pat my cheek.

"Business dinner tonight. Don't wait up."

The door clicked shut again.

I leaned against the wall and slowly slid down to the floor.

The spires of Noah's Lego castle blurred and twisted in my vision.

Chapter 1

The sender's name was saved as: My Blake.

My breath hitched in my throat.

I didn't know if Melissa was just that arrogant, or if she simply trusted me that much.

There was no passcode.

I tapped into the chat with "My Blake."

The earliest messages dated back to August, three years ago. Back then, it was just normal work correspondence:

"Proposal revised and sent."

That was when I was helping her survive the most grueling phase of her startup.

She used to tell me the board was putting too much pressure on her, that the investor due diligence was too intense. She stayed late at the office constantly and occasionally slept at a hotel.

But by Valentine's Day last year, the tone of the messages had shifted.

"Everyone else gets flowers for Valentine's Day. I just want a wire from you."

Right below that was a notification for a five-thousand-dollar transfer.

"Love you. Same place tonight?"

I remembered that day. Melissa didn't come home at all that night.

She finally walked through the door the following evening, smelling of stale alcohol.

The second she walked in, she threw her arms around me.

"God, thank you for holding down the fort."

"I'm doing all this for us, Ethan. For the family."

On my birthday, she gave me a watch that cost a little over two thousand dollars.

"Thanks for everything. I'll get you something better next year."

That exact same day, she wired ten thousand dollars to Blake.

Blake had replied:

"Thanks, babe. You drop this kind of cash on the stay-at-home husband?"

Melissa's response:

"He can't even compare to you."

Those words were like a needle driving straight into my eyes.

Noah was sitting on the floor, humming a song while clutching a toy car, the sunlight catching his soft blond hair.

I kept scrolling.

The last message was from yesterday.

"Babe, can we go public at the gala?"

Melissa's reply followed immediately.

"Yes. We tell our story tonight. At the gala, I'm announcing the wedding."

My entire world collapsed in that single second.

Go public?

Getting married?

Who was she getting married to?

The front door lock suddenly clicked.

Melissa pushed the door open, her eyes sweeping the living room.

"I left my black phone. Have you seen it?"

"Noah found it."

I walked over and handed it to her.

"Careful. You wouldn't want to lose something this important."

She snatched the phone from my hand, instantly hit the power button to black out the screen, and shoved it into the inner pocket of her blazer.

The whole sequence took less than three seconds.

"I've just been swamped," she said, clearing her throat. "Gala prep is a nightmare."

"You should get going."

She paused, reaching up to pat my cheek.

"Business dinner tonight. Don't wait up."

The door clicked shut again.

I leaned against the wall and slowly slid down to the floor.

The spires of Noah's Lego castle blurred and twisted in my vision.