Chapter 2

I asked softly, digging my nails deep in my palms.

“How long have you two been married?”

Chloe thought for a moment.

“Almost four years. Our boy is three now. We got married in July, yeah.”

She let out a self-conscious laugh.

“With Gavin insisting on taking care of everything, my memory’s failing me these days.

“Oh, by the way, do you drink tea? We got some nice earl grey. I’ll brew you a cup.”

She pushed herself up and walked toward the kitchen.

As she passed the bookcase, a clay sculpture of a pair of figurines embracing tumbled down.

It hit the floor, snapping clean in half.

Chloe bent down to pick it up.

“Oh dear, what happened? Gavin’s gonna be so upset when he sees this.”

My heart jolted.

“It must mean a lot to him.”

Chloe chuckled, her tone airy and soft.

“He dumped it in the trash, but I thought it looked sweet, so I secretly fished it out of the bin. He has no idea.

“Please, keep it between us.

“Such a pretty thing... whoever made it must have poured their heart into it.

“What a pity it broke.

“Are you still up for tea?”

She looked up at me, smiling.

I stood up and stumbled toward the exit.

“Maybe next time.”

I had far more important things to do.

Leaving the residential complex, I headed straight for the most expensive PI agency downtown.

“I want you to look into someone. Money is no problem.”

Two hours later, a stack of files nearly half a person tall sat on the table before me.

I started going through them. On the very first page was Gavin and Chloe’s wedding photo.

July 18th, 2021.

Three days after I flew abroad for work.

The PI spoke up.

“Based on our findings, Gavin Hayes had known Chloe Lynch long before that.

“Her father was his supervisor, and Hayes was the one actively pursuing her.

“A month after their wedding, he received a promotion and a raise, stepping up as department manager.”

I stared at the photograph, my mind flashing back to five years ago when I had just arrived in a foreign land.

No cellular service, unable to speak the language, stranded at the airport where I spent three nights sleeping in a restroom cubicle.

At my lowest point, I called Gavin.

He was at a drinking party, surrounding noise drowning out the line. He was terse, said we would catch up the next day before hanging up on me.

As it turned out, he was busy attending his own wedding that very night.

“There’s also this—we managed to locate Lynch’s Instagram account.

“In November 2021, she uploaded a selfie video announcing her first pregnancy with Hayes.”

I tapped the play button. Chloe appeared on screen with a sweet, radiant smile, holding up a pregnancy test showing two solid lines.

In the background, Gavin’s voice drifted through softly, telling her to mind the stairs.

September 2022, the child was born.

Chloe posted a picture of her meal at a postpartum care center.

The caption read: “He always strives to give me the very best.”

I checked the price—twenty thousand dollars for a month’s stay.

Back then, I had only been in Silveridge for a year, earning two sols per pound of picked blueberries, six dollars in our currency.

Picking forty pounds a day netted me a little over seven thousand a month.

I wired the majority of my earning to Gavin every month, keeping only a little for myself.

He used my hard-earned money to pay for his wife’s stay at a luxury postpartum center.

A bitter laugh escaped me, my tears falling onto the pile of papers.

“Anything else?” I asked.

The PI nodded, pulling out another document.

“Regarding the house you and Hayes were supposed to purchase together.

“According to our investigation, there’s only one name listed on the deed.”

Having somewhat anticipated this, I calmly asked, “Gavin?”

“No.”

The PI shook his head, a look of sympathy creeping into his eyes.

“It’s Chloe Lynch.”

I froze, my hands trembling out of control.

“What does that mean?”

“It means the house you’ve been wiring money to Hayes to buy for over five years had been registered under Lynch’s name from the second it was purchased.

“In other words, legally speaking, that house has absolutely nothing to do with you.”