All Chapters of The Sixth Key Was With Her Ex: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

8 Chapters

Chapter 1

I watched the locksmith work and asked him, "Are you sure there are six?""Positive. This German lock cylinder comes standard with two master keys and four secondary keys. A lot of families have them installed. I wouldn't get it wrong."He glanced back at me. "Sounds like you might be missing a key. You'll want to track that down. If you're sure it's lost, get the lock changed. Last thing you need is some thief finding it."I didn't say anything, but I was confused. I only remembered five keys in total. I'd never seen a sixth one.The only reason I'd called a locksmith in the first place was because I'd left my keys at the office and needed to grab some documents in a hurry.Just then, I heard a click, and the door opened.I Venmoed the locksmith fifty bucks, walked inside, and opened the drawer at the back of the entryway.Since we usually used the fingerprint scanner and keypad, the three spare keys—each with a little cartoon charm—were still lying in their velvet box. Add the

Chapter 2

Normally, Jessica wore a professional business suit to work.But today, underneath her black blazer, she had on a low-cut camisole I'd never seen before. She'd even put on that limited-edition perfume she usually saved for special occasions.Thinking about the man who might still be hiding in my bedroom, my heart sank.I didn't rush to confront her. Instead, I spoke casually."The locksmith told me our lock comes standard with six keys. But I looked everywhere, and I only found five."Jessica opened her mouth. "Maybe we remembered wrong when we bought the lock. Or maybe it came with an extra promo key or something. You can't expect to remember every little detail."She turned and hurried toward the kitchen, trying to cover her nerves by keeping busy."Is that so? But I just checked the security camera. Kyle was here."Jessica whipped her head around. The smile she forced onto her face looked more like she was about to cry."What are you talking about? Didn't Kyle move overseas

Chapter 3

I didn't say anything. I just stared at the storage bin all the way in the back, under the bed.It was a clear plastic bin, filled with off-season bedding. But tucked into the folds of the white silk comforter was the corner of some black fabric.A man's dress pants leg.He'd climbed into the biggest storage bin.This old-style bed had a lot of space underneath. If the bin was deliberately left slightly open, hiding a grown man for half an hour wouldn't be a problem at all.I stood up. Instead of exposing him right away, I nodded along with what Jessica had said."Maybe you're right. I've been working too much lately. I'm sorry, babe. I was being too sensitive."To make it up to you, I'll cook tonight. Honey, can you boil some water for me?"Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the bed skirt trembling slightly. I laughed to myself.'Kyle, if you want to play hide-and-seek, I'll raise the stakes.'Jessica clearly didn't want me staying in the house.She grabbed my hand. "Honey,

Chapter 4

Kyle was shivering from being scalded, glaring at me with pure hatred.I stood there holding the now-empty kettle, looking at him calmly. "Well, well. There really was someone under the bed. I thought we had a rat problem."Seeing there was no way to hide it anymore, Jessica's face went pale. All she could manage was, "Honey, let me explain.""Explain what?" I tilted my head. "Explain why you hid your ex-boyfriend under our bed? Or when you gave him the spare key to our house?"I turned to look at the man beside me. "Kyle, do you know how long you'd go away for breaking into someone's house?"Before he could respond, I picked up my phone from the floor and dialed 911."Hi, yeah — I have an intruder in my house. Can you send someone over right away?"Jessica's face turned ghostly white. She reached for the phone. "Mark, you can't call the police! If you do, he'll lose his job. And I gave him the key — what am I supposed to tell the cops?"The room went silent.I slowly lowered

Chapter 5

I shook out my hand and straightened my collar. "Breaking and entering plus assault. If you want to call the cops, be my guest."Then I opened the door and walked out.The police arrived quickly. The lead officer was a woman in her forties. Her eyes moved between me and Kyle."Who called 911?""I did."I put out my cigarette and pulled up the security footage on my phone. "Someone broke into my house. This is the evidence."Officer Julia Spencer took the phone, watched for a few seconds, and frowned. She turned to Kyle. "Sir, I need to see your ID."Kyle pulled out his wallet and handed it over stiffly. "I'm friends with the homeowner's wife. I had a key. That doesn't count as breaking in.""Where did you get the key?"Kyle opened his mouth, then said nothing.Suddenly, Jessica came running out of the bedroom, red-eyed, shouting, "I gave him the key! He didn't break in — I invited him over!"Officer Spencer glanced at Jessica, her expression completely neutral, and jotted so

Chapter 6

I hung up the phone and looked out at the traffic outside the hotel.Three years ago, when I married Jessica, I thought she was the one.She was beautiful, poised, knew how to handle people — she looked good on my arm. At home, she kept everything neat and tidy.I thought that was what a good marriage looked like.But I never imagined she'd hide another man in our bedroom.And not just once. The way Kyle had crawled under that bed yesterday — it looked like he'd done it before.I closed my eyes and tried to shake the image out of my head.My phone buzzed. It was a text from Jessica.[Where are you? We need to talk.]I didn't reply.She sent another one.[I gave him the key last month when he came to see me. Nothing happened between us. He's just tight on money and needed to borrow five thousand dollars.]Last month.I stared at those two words for a long time.I was away on a business trip for two whole weeks last month. When I got back, Jessica said she'd changed the cur

Chapter 7

"I don't want a divorce!" Jessica suddenly grabbed my hand. "Mark, I love you. Kyle is in the past. I don't have feelings for him anymore. I just lost my head for a second…""You've been sneaking around with him since last month, and you call that losing your head for a second?"Jessica, let me ask you something. If I had hidden my ex-girlfriend in our house yesterday, would you forgive me?"She was quiet for a long time.Finally, she said, "Yes."She looked up at me, her expression deadly serious. "Because I love you. I could forgive you once.""Then you don't know me. I can't."I pushed the papers closer to her. "If you won't sign, we'll see each other in court."I gathered up the torn pieces of paper. "Not only will you walk away with nothing, but you'll also owe me for emotional damages.""You really think you can leave me with nothing?" She laughed coldly. "Mark, the signature on that prenup of yours? It's fake."I froze. "What did you say?""I said, when you made me si

Chapter 8

Just then, Kyle's familiar figure appeared at the entrance of the bar. He was wearing a baggy hoodie, glancing around as he walked in.He clearly didn't see us. He headed straight for the bar and ordered the cheapest beer on tap.Dave's eyes went cold. "This loser still has the nerve to show his face in public?""Just ignore him."Kyle looked completely down and out now. None of that brooding, artistic charm Jessica used to talk about was left. Without Jessica's financial support, someone like him could barely survive in this city.It suddenly hit me — Jessica didn't agree to walk away with nothing because her conscience had finally kicked in. It was because she realized Kyle couldn't handle the drop in lifestyle once she left me.She wanted to come back for him.But the chance I'd given her? There was only ever one. And it was already used up.We finished a few bottles of whiskey. I checked the time — almost 2:00 AM.I was about to head home when I heard a commotion not far a

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