Suspicion flickered across his face, but he obeyed. When I slid the envelope toward him, he frowned, then opened it.
The color drained from his cheeks. He blinked rapidly. His mouth fell open without forming words.
“How did you… where did this come from”
“Does it matter” My voice was steady. Almost calm. “You carried on an affair with my sister. You planned a trip with her. And you were going to leave tomorrow.”
He ran a hand through his hair, panic slipping into his voice. “Andrea, listen, I can explain. It is not what it looks like.”
“Do not lie to me now,” I said. “Not after everything you wrote to her.”
He looked down. A long silence filled the kitchen. A silence that confirmed everything.
Footsteps sounded in the hallway. Parker stood in the doorway, watching. I shook my head slightly, telling him without words to stay where he was. This moment belonged to me alone.
Trent reached across the table as if he hoped to touch my hand. I pulled it back.
“You will go on your trip if you want,” I said. “But when you return, your things will not be here. I will have a lawyer by then.”
He stared at me, stunned. But the time for apologies had passed. Nothing he said could undo the damage.
He rolled his suitcase to the door. I followed, not to stop him, but to close the chapter. As the door shut behind him, Parker moved to my side and wrapped his arms around me.
“You are stronger than you think,” he whispered.
I exhaled slowly. For the first time, I believed him. Truth had broken my world, yet in the pieces, I found something unexpected. Freedom. And perhaps, with time, peace.
