Chapter 2
For a few seconds, nobody moved.
Sarah held the phone against her chest.
I stared at her.
Maria stared at the floor.
Emma was still crying quietly against my shoulder.
I heard the refrigerator humming.
Nothing else.
Then I said, “Who is Jason?”
Sarah’s face went pale.
“Daniel, don’t do this right now.”
“Who is Jason?”
“He’s a friend.”
“A friend who expects you to spend the night with him?”
“You’re twisting it.”
I almost laughed.
There was nothing funny about it.
“What exactly am I twisting?”
Sarah glanced at Maria.
“Can we talk privately?”
“No.”
Her eyes widened.
“What?”
“You left our daughter alone in this house. Then you came home drunk. Then another man texted you about spending the night with him. We’re not going to pretend the biggest problem is that Maria can hear us.”
Maria shifted uncomfortably.
“I can go.”
“No,” I said.
Sarah shot me a furious look.
“Why are you making her stay?”
“Because I want to know what happened.”
“I already told you.”
“No. You told me Maria was here.”
Sarah crossed her arms.
“She was supposed to be.”
Maria finally looked up.
“No, ma’am.”
Sarah turned on her.
“Excuse me?”
“You told me to leave.”
“I told you that you could leave when Emma fell asleep.”
Maria shook her head.
“You said your sister was coming.”
My stomach dropped.
I looked at Sarah.
“Your sister?”
Sarah said nothing.
Maria continued.
“You told me Miss Rachel would arrive before nine-thirty.”
My wife’s sister lived forty minutes away.
I pulled my phone from my pocket.
“Don’t,” Sarah said quickly.
I looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because Rachel has kids. It’s after midnight.”
“You didn’t seem worried about bedtime when you left our daughter alone.”
Sarah’s eyes flashed.
“I did not leave her alone.”
“Then who was here?”
Silence.
I called Rachel.
She answered on the fourth ring.
“Daniel?”
Her voice was sleepy.
“Sorry. Did I wake you?”
“Yes. Is everything okay?”
I stared directly at Sarah.
“Did Sarah ask you to come over tonight?”
There was a pause.
Then Rachel said, “What?”
Sarah closed her eyes.
I felt something inside me break.
“Did she ask you to watch Emma?”
“No.”
“Did you plan on coming to our house tonight?”
“No.”
Another pause.
“Daniel, what’s going on?”
I hung up.
Sarah looked furious.
“You had no right to drag my sister into this.”
I almost couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“I had no right?”
Emma whimpered.
That stopped me.
She was exhausted.
She didn’t deserve to hear us screaming.
I kissed her forehead.
“Maria, could you please take Emma upstairs?”
Maria hesitated.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Emma grabbed my shirt when Maria reached for her.
“No, Daddy.”
My chest tightened.
“It’s okay, baby.”
“No.”
She buried her face against me.
I looked at Sarah.
For the first time since she walked in, her expression softened.
She stepped forward.
“Emma, come to Mommy.”
Emma immediately pulled away.
“No!”
Sarah froze.
I saw the hurt on her face.
For one second, I almost felt sorry for her.
Then I remembered my daughter had been alone.
Afraid.
Crying.
Probably calling for us.
I carried Emma upstairs myself.
I put her in our bed because she refused to let me leave.
She held my finger until she finally fell asleep.
When I returned downstairs twenty minutes later, Maria had gone home.
Sarah was sitting on the couch.
A glass of water was on the table.
Her phone was gone.
I stopped in the doorway.
“Where’s your phone?”
She looked up slowly.
“Seriously?”
“Yes.”
“It’s my phone.”
“And Jason is your friend.”
“Daniel—”
“How long?”
Her eyes shifted.
That was the answer before she spoke.
“How long what?”
“How long have you been sleeping with him?”
“I’m not sleeping with anyone.”
I walked closer.
“Then give me your phone.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because marriage does not mean you get to search through my private conversations whenever you feel insecure.”
I stared at her.
“Insecure?”
“Yes.”
“You came home drunk after leaving our daughter alone, and a man texted you about spending the night with him.”
She stood.
“And do you know why I went out?”
I couldn’t believe it.
“You’re about to make this my fault?”
“I’m about to tell you that you’re never here.”
“I was working.”
“You’re always working.”
“That’s how this house gets paid for.”
“There. That.”
“What?”
“That tone. Like because you earn the money, you get to decide everything.”
“I’m trying to understand why my wife disappeared and left our child by herself.”
“I needed one night.”
“One night to do what?”
“To feel like a person again!”
Her voice cracked.
I stared at her.
She started crying.
Not quietly.
Not delicately.
She covered her face and sank back onto the couch.
“I’m tired, Daniel.”
I stood there.
“I’m tired of being somebody’s wife. Somebody’s mother. Somebody who has to schedule everything around everyone else.”
My anger didn’t disappear.
But something in her voice made me listen.
She looked at me.
“You travel. You have dinners. You have people calling you. You have a career. You walk out that door and people know your name.”
“So that excuses this?”
“No!”
“Then stop explaining it like it does.”
She wiped her face.
“I thought Rachel was coming.”
“You never called her.”
“I was going to.”
“When?”
She didn’t answer.
“You left at nine?”
“A little before.”
“And Maria?”
“She was supposed to stay until Rachel came.”
“She says you told her she could leave.”
“She misunderstood me.”
“Maria has worked for us for four years.”
“That doesn’t mean she never misunderstands something.”
I looked toward the staircase.
“What time did Maria come back?”
Sarah’s jaw tightened.
“I don’t know.”
“Exactly.”
I called Maria.
She answered immediately.
“I’m sorry to bother you again.”
“It’s okay, sir.”
“What time did you come back to the house?”
“Eleven-fifty.”
“Why?”
“I forgot my purse in the laundry room.”
My heart started pounding.
“And Emma?”
“She was in her crib.”
“Crying?”
Maria’s voice grew quiet.
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“I don’t know.”
Sarah stood up.
“Daniel, stop.”
I raised my hand.
“Did you see anyone else in the house?”
“No.”
“Was the front door locked?”
“No.”
I closed my eyes.
Sarah whispered, “Oh my God.”
Maria continued.
“I stayed because I didn’t know what else to do.”
“Thank you.”
“I’m sorry, sir.”
“You have nothing to apologize for.”
I ended the call.
Sarah was crying again.
“I locked the door.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“I know I locked it.”
“No. You think you did.”
“I was rushing.”
That sentence hit me harder than everything else.
Rushing.
She had rushed out of the house so quickly to meet another man that she didn’t even know whether she had locked the door behind her.
Our daughter had been upstairs.
Alone.
I took a step back.
Sarah reached for me.
“Daniel.”
“Don’t.”
“Please.”
“Don’t touch me.”
She stopped.
I had never said those words to her before.
Not once in seven years.
Her face collapsed.
“I made a mistake.”
“A mistake is forgetting milk.”
“I know.”
“A mistake is missing an appointment.”
“I know!”
“No, you don’t.”
I pointed toward the stairs.
“Our daughter was alone for almost three hours.”
“I thought someone was coming!”
“You didn’t call anyone!”
“I know!”
“And Jason?”
She looked away.
I laughed bitterly.
“There it is.”
“Nothing happened.”
“Then why can’t you look at me?”
She looked up.
“Because you’ve already decided.”
“Tell me I’m wrong.”
She opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
I felt cold.
“How long?”
Tears slid down her face.
“Daniel…”
“How long?”
“Six months.”
The room seemed to tilt.
I gripped the back of a chair.
She immediately said, “It isn’t what you think.”
I looked at her.
“You’ve been seeing another man for six months, but it isn’t what I think?”
“We talked.”
“You talked.”
“Yes.”
“That’s all?”
She hesitated.
My stomach turned.
“How many times?”
She started crying harder.
“How many times did you sleep with him?”
“Twice.”
I looked away.
Actually, I laughed.
One short sound.
It came out before I could stop it.
“Twice.”
“I was lonely.”
“You were lonely.”
“I know it sounds terrible.”
“It doesn’t sound terrible. It is terrible.”
“I never meant for any of this to happen.”
“You lied to Maria.”
“I panicked.”
“You lied about Rachel.”
“I panicked.”
“You left Emma alone.”
“I didn’t know she would be alone.”
“You went to another man.”
She covered her mouth.
I looked at the woman I had married.
The woman whose hand I held in a hospital room while our daughter was born.
The woman who slept beside me.
The woman I thought I knew.
And suddenly I couldn’t recognize her.
“What happens now?” she whispered.
I looked upstairs.
“I’m taking Emma to my parents’ house tomorrow.”
Sarah’s head snapped up.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“You’re not taking my daughter.”
“Our daughter.”
“You can’t just take her from me.”
“I’m taking her somewhere safe while we figure this out.”
“She is safe with me.”
I stared at her.
Sarah looked like I had slapped her.
“That was cruel.”
“No.”
My voice was quiet now.
“That was the truth.”
She grabbed her phone.
“What are you doing?”
“Calling my lawyer.”
Her eyes widened.
“You have a lawyer?”
“I own a company. Of course I have a lawyer.”
“For business.”
“Tonight I’m asking him for a family-law referral.”
“Daniel, please.”
I walked toward the stairs.
She followed me.
“Please don’t destroy our family over one night.”
I stopped.
Then I turned.
“One night?”
She looked down.
I lowered my voice.
“You just told me there were six months of lies.”
“I love you.”
I stared at her.
Those three words used to mean everything.
Now they sounded like a threat.
I walked upstairs.
At 2:17 a.m., while Sarah cried downstairs, I sat beside my sleeping daughter and sent one message.
It was to my attorney.
I thought that was the worst thing I would have to do.
I was wrong.
May you like
Because at 7:03 the next morning, someone knocked on our front door.
And when I opened it, Jason was standing there.
