Chapter 11

I put my phone down, started the car, and drove away from the river.

I didn't go home. Instead, I made my way to this quiet little café over on the east side, a place I used to go all the time. It was New Year's Eve afternoon, and the place was dead, just the owner behind the counter, stifling a yawn.

I ordered a black coffee and found a spot in the corner, then pulled out my laptop. First thing, I logged into online banking and checked our joint account.

Sure enough, the balance was almost 25,000 dollars lower. The transaction history showed a 23,300-dollar payment to that jewelry store, right after they left the place.

I grabbed a screenshot. Then I checked both my own account and Brian's. There were a few big, shady payments and transfers in his account lately, all going to sketchy places.

My own account showed a few transfers to the joint account for bills and the mortgage.

I logged every single transaction, grabbed screenshots, and saved them. These would all be proof when the time came.

Next, I logged into the cloud backup. Brian and I had location sharing and photo sync set up on our phones. I almost never snooped through his photos, but I still had access. I typed in the password and got into his photo backup.

The "Recently Deleted" folder was empty. He'd wiped it clean. But I was prepared for this.

Ages ago, when his phone was glitching and I helped him back it up, I secretly set up an auto-sync to a hidden cloud drive. He never had a clue. I logged into that hidden backup.

What I saw made my fingers tighten around the mouse, my knuckles turning white.

There weren't many photos, but every single one was a killer. Chloe was wearing his shirt, snapping a mirror selfie in a hotel room, her smile all flirt and tease.

There was a shot of them at a restaurant, her foot sliding up his leg under the table.

There were blurry, overlapping shadows in dim light.

There was even a short video, Chloe leaning in close, whispering something in his ear, then planting a kiss on him with a sly smile. He turned toward her, and even though the details were fuzzy, the way they acted left no doubt about how intimate they were.

The photos were taken on and off, starting about two months ago and going all the way up to last week.

I downloaded them one by one, saved them, and sorted them with timestamps and locations.

My heart felt like it had been thrown into freezing water, then slowly burned over a low flame. The pain was so overwhelming that it left me numb, with nothing but cold clarity remaining.

By the time I finished, my coffee was stone cold.

I picked up the cup and took a sip, the bitter taste filled my mouth.

Outside, the sky was getting darker. In the distance, the occasional pop of fireworks started to go off, a reminder that night was falling and it was time for families to gather.

My phone rang; it was my mom. "Emmy, have you had your New Year's Eve dinner yet? Are you with Brian?"

Her voice was warm and smiling, and in the background, I could hear the TV playing the New Year's Eve show and my dad's voice.

I pinched the back of my hand hard, forcing my voice to sound as cheerful as possible. "I'm just about to eat, Mom. Have you and Dad had dinner yet?"

"We just finished, and we're watching the New Year's Eve show. Where's Brian? Let me talk to him."

"He's busy in the kitchen, his hands are all greasy. Mom, let me wish you and Dad a happy New Year and good health on his behalf!" I blurted out, afraid my voice would crack.

"What's he so busy with? As long as you two are doing well, that's all that matters. Oh, and about what we talked about last time, have you two thought about it? When are you going to set a date for the wedding? My friend keeps asking me about it."

Mom was nagging again.

The wedding. Every time it came up before, I'd feel shy and a little excited. Now, it just felt like a cruel joke.

"Mom, it's not urgent. We'll talk it over later. You and Dad enjoy the show. I've got something to take care of, so I'm hanging up now. Happy New Year!"

I hung up in a hurry, afraid that if I said even one more word, I'd break down.

I set my phone down and buried my face in my hands.

My shoulders shook, but my eyes were dry; not a single tear would come.

It was like all the tears I had left had dried up in that freezing parking garage yesterday.