“You pretended to be drunk so I would leave. Sabrina came upstairs afterward. Then sometime before dawn, Sabrina left and you got back into the bed so if I came upstairs, I would think you had been here all night.”
Vivian’s face became completely still.
I knew I was right.
The realization was almost worse than finding the shoe.
This had not been a drunken mistake.
It had been coordinated.
Nathan ran a hand through his hair.
“You’re making assumptions.”
“I heard her laugh.”
His eyes flickered.
There.
Confirmation.
I continued.
“I heard someone walking around at three in the morning.”
“Guests were everywhere.”
“She texted you ten minutes ago.”
He looked at his phone.
Too late.
I saw panic.
“What did you read?”
I smiled.
It was the first time that morning I smiled.
And I watched something in his face collapse.
Not guilt.
Fear.
He was not afraid of losing me.
He was afraid of what I knew.
I set the shoe on the chair.
Then I removed my wedding ring.
Nathan stared.
“Claire, don’t be dramatic.”
I placed the ring on the nightstand.
“One night,” I said.
He frowned.
“That’s what you told me, remember? It’s only one night.”
“Claire.”
“And you were right.”
I looked at the ring.
“One night was enough.”
Then I walked out.
Nathan followed me into the hallway.
“Where are you going?”
“Home.”
“This is your home now.”
“No.”
I turned.
“This is your mother’s house. Apparently it’s also Sabrina’s hotel.”
His face flushed.
“Stop.”
“Why?”
“You don’t know what happened.”
“I know enough.”
“You don’t.”
“Then explain the email.”
He went pale.
Behind him, Vivian appeared in the doorway.
“What email?”
I watched Nathan look at her.
That was when I knew something even more important.
Vivian did not know Sabrina had printed their correspondence.
Which meant the three people deceiving me did not completely trust one another.
And whenever conspirators stop trusting one another, the truth gets much easier to find.
I left before either of them could answer.
The manor was almost silent.
A few catering staff were clearing glasses downstairs.
Flowers from the reception drooped in tall arrangements along the hall.
On one table sat a framed photograph from the night before.
Nathan and me.
His hand around my waist.
My face turned toward him.
We looked happy.
I picked up the frame.
For one stupid second, I wanted to smash it.
Instead, I put it back.
