I finished my tea and stood.
There was work to do.
A company I wanted to build again.
Friends I needed to see.
A life that had been waiting for me to stop defending a man who had never deserved my loyalty.
Before leaving the kitchen, I looked toward the guest suite.
The room was empty.
No cot.
No suitcases.
No mistress.
No newborn placed in the middle of a secret I had never agreed to share.
Just a room in my own home.
And for the first time in months, I smiled without pretending.
Richard had told me to prepare the house for another woman.
He had expected me to make room for his lies.
Instead, I had made room for the truth.
But as I reached the front door, my phone rang again.
This time, it was Margaret.
Her voice was tense.
“Claire, I need you to listen carefully. The investigators have found another document. It’s dated two days before Richard announced that Vesna would be moving in with you.”
