Chapter 3

Pain did not make me hysterical. It made me strangely calm.

Over the next forty-eight hours, I did what I should have done years ago.

I hired a private investigator. Vance.

She delivered a thick manila folder to my office.

"This wasn't hard to find, Mrs. Sanchez," Miss Vance said. "He didn't exactly hide it. At least, not from anyone except you."

I opened the folder.

Birthday parties, school plays, beach photos, page after page.

Graham was in every one of them.

Miss Vance handed me another photograph.

"You may want to see this one," she said.

It was from a hallway in a children's hospital three years ago. Graham sat beside a hospital bed, holding Emily's hand tightly. Lila leaned against his shoulder, her eyes red.

The memory punched the air from my lungs.

Three years ago, I had emergency laparoscopic surgery. I had begged Graham to stay with me. He kissed my forehead, told me there was an emergency board meeting in Boston, and promised he would be back before the weekend.

I spent those four days in the hospital alone.

He had never gone to Boston.

He had been holding Lila's daughter's hand.

The next day was St. Jude's Field Day.

I took the green invitation and walked onto campus, blending into the crowd of parents.

It didn't take me long to find them.

They were sitting on a picnic blanket beneath a large oak tree. Graham's arm rested naturally around Lila's shoulders.

When Emily ran over with a participation ribbon, he scooped her up in one motion.

"Look at that family," a lady beside me murmured. "Mr. Walker never misses an important day. He's practically the head of the PTA."

"Never misses?" I heard myself ask.

"Oh, absolutely not," the woman said warmly. "If it has anything to do with Emily, he's always there."

Always there.

The words landed softly, then cut deep.

I stepped back from the crowd and walked toward the hallway beside the school building. I needed somewhere to breathe.

As I passed an alcove near the gym, I heard voices.

"Do you think she's getting suspicious, Graham?" Lila's voice floated out. "Emily left her hair clip in your pocket last week. If Cecilia finds out..."

"Cecilia won't find out." Graham sounded completely certain. "And even if she does, she won't leave. She's completely dependent on me."

There was a short silence.

Then Lila asked the question that had been eating away at me for days.

"Have you really never regretted it? Not having a child with her?"

The silence stretched until I could barely breathe.

I held my breath, every cell in my body praying for a different answer, even though I already knew what it would be.

"No," Graham said, his voice cold and casual. "I never wanted that kind of life with Cecilia. We were never meant to be a real family. She's a good companion. Respectable. Quiet. Convenient."

He paused, his voice lowering.

"But she's not you, Lila. In this life, I only wanted children with the woman I loved."

The world didn't shatter.

I simply turned and walked back into the harsh noon sunlight.

When I returned to my car, I took out my phone and dialed a number.

"Harper Law Firm."

"I need to schedule a divorce consultation," I said. "As soon as possible."

I watched Graham lift Emily into his arms. I watched Lila slide her hand through his.

Then I slowly loosened my grip on the steering wheel.

"Also, I need you to look into the spousal consent form for the Sanchez Group merger this Friday. That document doesn't have my signature yet."

Originally, all I had needed to do was sign it before Friday.

I looked down at the pale green invitation.

"Now let's see what he can build without it."