Chapter 3 - The Woman Behind the Message
The photograph had been taken three months earlier.
Liam was standing outside a hotel.
Sophie was beside him.
And she was visibly pregnant.
I stared at the screen until the image blurred.
Three months earlier.
I had been six months pregnant with Hailey.
Another message appeared.
Ask him whose baby she said it was.
I immediately called the number.
No answer.
I tried again.
Straight to voicemail.
My mother was sleeping upstairs in the guest room because she'd refused to leave me alone that night.
I sat in the dark living room, holding Hailey against my chest.
I should have been devastated.
Instead, something colder moved through me.
If Sophie was pregnant three months ago, where was the baby?
And why would someone anonymously send me the photograph?
The following morning, Liam called seventeen times.
I ignored sixteen.
On the seventeenth, I answered.
"What?"
"Emma, please."
His voice sounded rough.
"I didn't sleep."
"Neither did Hailey."
"Can I come home?"
"No."
"We need to talk."
"Then talk."
Silence.
"Not over the phone."
I opened the photograph.
"Is Sophie's baby yours?"
The line became completely silent.
That silence told me more than any answer.
"Liam?"
"Where did you hear that?"
"Answer me."
"It's complicated."
I closed my eyes.
"That's becoming your favorite phrase."
"Emma, Sophie isn't pregnant anymore."
My stomach tightened.
"What happened?"
"She lost it."
For several seconds, I couldn't speak.
Whatever Sophie had done with my husband, I felt no satisfaction hearing that.
"When?"
"About two months ago."
"Was it yours?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"She said it was."
I looked down at Hailey.
My daughter curled her tiny fingers around mine.
"How long?"
"What?"
"How long have you been sleeping with her?"
Liam exhaled.
"About eight months."
Eight months.
Almost my entire pregnancy.
I ended the call.
Then I cried.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
I simply sat on the kitchen floor holding my daughter and cried until my mother found me.
But by afternoon, something unexpected happened.
Sophie called.
"Emma?"
I recognized her voice instantly.
The woman from the accidental call.
"What do you want?"
"To explain."
"There's nothing to explain."
"There is."
Her voice shook.
"Liam lied to both of us."
I nearly laughed.
"You knew he was married."
"Yes."
At least she admitted it.
"And you knew I was pregnant."
Silence.
"Yes."
"Then don't tell me you're another victim."
"I'm not."
That answer surprised me.
"I did something terrible," Sophie said. "I knew better. I'm not asking you to forgive me."
"Then why are you calling?"
"Because Liam told me something last night."
My hand tightened around the phone.
"What?"
"He said he's going to make sure you get nothing."
I looked around my kitchen.
"He doesn't own the house."
"I know."
That stopped me.
"How?"
"Because he's been talking to someone about your finances for months."
Suddenly the anonymous message felt much more dangerous.
"What finances?"
"Your grandmother's trust."
My heart skipped.
My grandmother had left me more than the down payment for our home.
There was an investment account.
I rarely touched it.
Liam knew about it.
"He said once you divorced, he'd make sure you couldn't prove what belonged to you before the marriage."
"That's not how it works."
"I know."
Sophie paused.
"But he thinks he's found a way."
I stood.
"What way?"
"I don't know."
"Then why should I believe you?"
"Because I'm the person who sent you the photograph."
I went still.
Sophie continued.
"I heard what he said about you after dinner last night. He called me furious. And I finally understood something."
"What?"
"He doesn't love me either."
I said nothing.
"He told me the same things he probably told you once."
That wasn't comforting.
It was terrifying.
Because if Sophie was telling the truth, the affair wasn't the biggest problem anymore.
I called an attorney that afternoon.
Her name was Caroline Reed.
She listened without interrupting.
Then she asked one question.
"Do you and your husband share online banking credentials?"
My stomach dropped.
"Yes."
"Change your passwords immediately."
I opened my banking app.
And that's when I saw it.
Three transfers.
Small enough that I hadn't noticed them individually.
Together, they totaled $28,000.
All transferred from our joint savings account during the previous four months.
Destination:
An account I didn't recognize.
I whispered, "Oh my God."
Caroline's voice sharpened.
"Emma?"
"Money is missing."
"How much?"
"Twenty-eight thousand dollars."
"Screenshot everything. Don't confront him yet."
But it was too late.
A car door slammed outside.
I looked through the window.
Liam had returned.
And he wasn't alone.
Sophie stepped out of the passenger side.
They weren't holding hands.
They weren't smiling.
In fact, Sophie looked terrified.
Liam marched toward my front door.
Then Sophie suddenly grabbed his arm.
He jerked away.
And even through the glass, I could read the words on her lips.
Tell her the truth.
Whatever happened next, I knew one thing.
May you like
The affair was only the first secret my husband had been keeping.
---
