For twenty minutes, she sat on the hardwood floor of her home design studio and cried silently among fabric samples and architectural plans—the business she had built through years of work.
Then she stood, washed her face, and called her sister.
“I need Maya to stay with you for four days,” Elena said steadily. “Don’t say anything to Julian.”
Two days later, Julian left for Logan International Airport carrying his luggage and an easy smile.
“I’ll call you as soon as I land in Chicago, love.”
“Of course,” Elena said softly. “Have a safe flight.”
She waited exactly ninety minutes before taking an Uber to the airport.
She wasn’t going there to create a public scene.
Inside her leather folder were the surveillance photographs, the investigator’s report, copies of their joint financial statements, and enough evidence to ensure Julian couldn’t simply lie his way out of what she already knew.
When Elena boarded the plane and reached Row 7, Julian looked up from his tablet.
Every trace of color disappeared from his face.
“Elena?! What… what are you doing here?”
She held up her boarding pass.
“I believe my seat is right next to yours.”
Julian glanced frantically at the empty seat beside him.
Then a stylish young woman appeared behind Elena in the aisle.
“Excuse me,” Chloe said politely. “I think that’s my seat.”
Elena stepped aside.
“Of course,” she said calmly. “Please, take your seat. I think it’s about time the three of us got acquainted.”
Chloe settled into 7B between them.
Within seconds, she noticed the unbearable tension coming from Julian.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
Elena fastened her seatbelt.
“Everything is fine. I’m Elena. Julian’s wife.”
Chloe slowly turned toward Julian.
“Your… wife?”
Julian opened his mouth several times before finally managing to speak.
“I… I told you we were separated.”
Elena gave a short, humorless laugh.
“That’s interesting. Last night, he told me he was flying to Chicago for a three-day business conference.”
Chloe went pale.
She stared at her Miami boarding pass, then back at Julian.
“You told me you’d been living in an apartment in South Boston for almost a year.”
“I can explain—”
“He told me the exact same thing whenever I asked about his late nights,” Elena said. “Apparently it’s his favorite line when his stories fall apart.”
As the plane began taxiing toward the runway, Chloe’s eyes filled with angry tears.
Julian reached for her hand.
She pulled away.
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