Chapter 2

The day I buried Summer, the sky was perfectly clear. The cemetery in town was affordable, so I chose a spot where she could see the sunset.

When she was alive, all she wanted was to watch the sunset by the ocean. I always told her we would go next time, once I had saved enough for her tuition.

Now, I had finally made her wish come true, but she would never get to see it.

The five years I spent married to Zander were hard, but he had always treated me well.

At home, he never let me do any housework. When I nearly bled to death giving birth to Summer, he didn't hesitate to beg the doctor to do whatever it took to save me.

He was a proud man, but that night, he was so desperate to keep me alive that he humbled himself before the doctors.

That was why I couldn't figure out why he would lie to me.

I had nothing. What could he possibly gain by lying to me?

After cleaning up the old house back home, I bought a ticket back to Jinton.

Some of my things were still at the rented apartment, so I had to go back and bring them over. Otherwise, the house would feel too empty to live in.

The moment I opened the door, an unfamiliar cool breeze washed over me. It eased the heat that clung to my skin.

Hearing the noise, Zander poked his head out of the kitchen. His face lit up when he saw me.

"Come inside! I bought a new air conditioner. Sit down and rest for a while," he said.

We had been trying to save money, so all we could afford was a used air conditioner. It guzzled electricity and was so loud that I couldn't bring myself to turn it on when I was home alone.

Zander had lectured me about it more than once.

"We can always make more money. You didn't marry me just to struggle, Sabina," he said. "Just wait. I'll get you a better one. I'm not going to let you suffer in the heat again."

I stared at him, stunned.

I hadn't expected him to remember this.

The expensive suit he had worn a few days ago was gone, replaced by a cheap tank top. After spending so long in the kitchen, his back was soaked with sweat.

The polished, sophisticated air he'd had onstage a few days ago was nowhere to be seen.

"What? You missed me so much that you forgot how to talk?" he teased.

Zander ruffled my hair and pulled me over to the dining table that was covered with all my favorite dishes.

Seeing the sweat on his forehead, I couldn't help wiping it away with a tissue.

He smiled smugly and held my hand tightly. "You're still so sweet to me, Sabina. Come on, don't be mad. I promise I won't take another job that keeps me away this long.

"I don't want to come home one day and have you and Summer not even recognize me."

That night, Zander dried my hair before taking a shower.

I looked at his phone on the coffee table and finally gave in to the urge to pick it up.

I entered the wrong password three times.

I tried my birthday, Summer's birthday, and even his. Finally, I picked up my phone and looked up Roxanne's birth date.

The moment Zander's phone unlocked, my breath hitched.

In five years of marriage, he had never stopped me from looking at his phone. But I had never been comfortable going through someone's things, so I never did.

Looking back, he must have been certain I never would. That was why he was always so confident about letting me see it.

"How long are you planning to keep Sabina and Summer a secret? You married that broke woman just to get back at Roxanne when she left without a word," one of his friends wrote. "Now that Roxanne is back, how much longer are you going to keep up this little charade?

"Don't tell me you've actually fallen for Sabina?"

I stared at the conversation, my eyes fixed on his latest messages. My fingers trembled as I scrolled down to his replies.

"You're reading too much into it," Zander replied. "Sabina gave me a child, after all. I can't let a Stafford be raised outside the family.

"As for Sabina, once I'm done with her, I'll find a way to end things for good."