Chapter 5
I stared into the safe.
The light inside was dim.
But I could see enough.
Stacks of cash.
Bound with rubber bands.
Neatly arranged.
I reached in.
Picked up one stack.
$100 bills.
One hundred of them.
$10,000.
I counted the stacks.
Twenty of them.
$200,000 in cash.
Just sitting there.
Hidden behind a bookshelf.
In my house.
My hands were shaking so badly I almost dropped the money.
I put it back carefully.
What else was in there?
More documents.
I pulled them out one by one.
A marriage license.
Ryan and Elena.
Dated four months ago.
Las Vegas.
My husband was a bigamist.
He'd married another woman.
While still married to me.
I felt like I was going to throw up.
I put the marriage license aside.
Next.
A birth certificate.
For a baby girl.
Luna Marie Carter.
Born two months ago.
Father: Ryan Carter.
Mother: Elena Rodriguez.
He had a daughter.
A two-month-old daughter.
And he hadn't told me.
He'd been living this double life.
With two wives.
Two children.
Two families.
And Diane had been helping him.
I found a passport.
Ryan's passport.
But the photo was different.
The hair was shorter.
The expression colder.
And the name...
The name was not Ryan Carter.
It was David Mills.
David Mills.
Who was David Mills?
I looked at the stamps.
Mexico.
Costa Rica.
Panama.
All within the last year.
Trips Ryan had told me were "work conferences."
Lies.
All lies.
I found more bank statements.
Offshore accounts.
In the Cayman Islands.
In Switzerland.
Millions of dollars.
Millions.
Where had he gotten all this money?
Ryan was a mid-level executive at a pharmaceutical company.
He made good money.
But not millions.
Not this kind of money.
I found a business plan.
For a company I'd never heard of.
Carter Pharmaceuticals.
Wait.
Ryan worked for Thornton Pharmaceuticals.
Not Carter.
I read the business plan.
It was detailed.
Well-written.
Impressive.
But it was also... familiar.
I recognized the formulas.
The research data.
The marketing strategies.
They were from Thornton.
Ryan was stealing from his employer.
Selling their secrets.
Building his own company with stolen intellectual property.
And he was using our house as his base of operations.
Using Diane as his accomplice.
Using me...
Using me as cover.
The perfect suburban wife.
The perfect mother.
The perfect alibi.
Nobody would suspect the man with the beautiful family.
The man who lived in a nice house in a nice neighborhood.
The man who coached his son's soccer team.
Nobody would suspect him.
I put the documents back.
Carefully.
Exactly as I'd found them.
I closed the safe.
Dialed random numbers to reset the code.
I pushed the bookshelf back into place.
Made sure it looked exactly like it had before.
I walked back to the desk.
Put the second phone back in the locked drawer.
Locked it.
Put the Post-it note back under the desk.
I walked to the door.
Turned off the light.
Closed the door.
Locked it.
I stood in the hallway.
Breathing heavily.
My mind was racing.
What do I do now?
I had to protect Noah.
That was the most important thing.
My son.
My beautiful, innocent son.
He was in danger.
From his own father.
From his own grandmother.
I walked to his room.
Opened the door quietly.
He was asleep.
Curled up with his favorite stuffed bear.
His face was peaceful.
He had no idea what was happening.
No idea that his entire world was about to crumble.
I sat on the edge of his bed.
Stroked his hair.
Tears streamed down my face.
I couldn't let them hurt him.
I couldn't let them take him.
I had to be strong.
For him.
I stood up.
Kissed his forehead.
Left the room.
Closed the door softly.
I walked to the kitchen.
Poured myself a glass of water.
My hands were still shaking.
I thought about calling the police.
But what would I tell them?
My husband is cheating on me and has a secret safe?
That's not a crime.
Not yet.
But stealing from his employer...
That was a crime.
Bigamy...
That was a crime.
But I needed proof.
Solid proof.
And I needed to be smart about this.
If I moved too fast, Ryan would disappear.
He'd take the money.
He'd take Elena and the baby.
And he'd try to take Noah.
I couldn't let that happen.
I needed a plan.
I needed help.
But who could I trust?
My family lived across the country.
My friends...
Would they believe me?
Ryan was charming.
Everybody loved him.
Everybody thought he was the perfect husband.
The perfect father.
If I told them the truth, they'd think I was crazy.
Or jealous.
Or making it up.
I thought about my friend Lisa.
She was a lawyer.
A good one.
She specialized in family law.
But could I trust her?
Could I trust anyone?
I looked at the clock.
11:30 PM.
Too late to call anyone.
I'd have to wait until morning.
I walked back to our bedroom.
Our bedroom.
It felt wrong now.
Tainted.
I didn't want to sleep in the bed we'd shared.
But I had to.
I had to pretend everything was normal.
At least for now.
I changed into my pajamas.
Brushed my teeth.
Washed my face.
I looked in the mirror.
The woman staring back at me looked tired.
Scared.
But there was something else in her eyes.
Determination.
I was not going to let Ryan and Diane destroy me.
I was not going to let them take my son.
I was going to fight back.
And I was going to win.
I climbed into bed.
Pulled the covers up.
But I couldn't sleep.
Every creak of the house made me jump.
Every shadow looked like a threat.
I thought about Diane.
She'd be back tomorrow.
She'd want to go into the office.
Would she notice that I'd been there?
I'd been careful.
Put everything back exactly as I'd found it.
But Diane was smart.
And she was paranoid.
She might notice something small.
Something I'd missed.
I had to be ready.
I had to be one step ahead of her.
I closed my eyes.
Tried to sleep.
But all I could see was Ryan's face.
Smiling at me from our wedding photos.
Holding Noah when he was a baby.
Kissing me goodbye before his "business trip."
All of it lies.
All of it a performance.
And I'd been the fool.
I'd believed him.
I'd trusted him.
May you like
I'd loved him.
Never again.
