Chapter 3 - Fragments of a Secret Life
The next morning,
the air in the house felt heavy with the scent of stale party food and betrayal.
I walked through the rooms like a ghost,
seeing clues I had ignored for years.
Julian’s office,
usually a sanctuary of blueprints and silence,
now felt like a crime scene.
I sat at his desk,
staring at the computer screen,
my fingers hovering over the keyboard.
I knew his password—it was Chloe’s birthday—or so I thought.
I tried the numbers: 0-6-1-2.
Access Denied.
I tried our anniversary: 1-0-1-5.
Access Denied.
Then,
with a trembling hand,
I typed in Eleanor’s birthday.
The screen flickered to life instantly.
My stomach did a slow,
painful somersault as I looked at the desktop.
There was a single folder named "Blueprints,"
but it wasn't filled with architectural designs.
It was filled with thousands of photos.
Photos of them in Paris.
Photos of them in tiny apartments I didn't recognize.
Photos of them holding each other with a passion I had never seen from Julian.
I scrolled down,
the images blurring into a nightmare of double-crossing.
There were bank statements showing regular transfers of large sums of money.
He had been draining our joint savings to pay for Eleanor's luxury lifestyle.
He had bought her a condo in the city,
a place where they could be themselves away from my eyes.
I found an email thread from six months ago.
Eleanor was complaining about my father's health,
saying he was "taking too long to die."
Julian responded,
telling her to be patient,
that once the old man was gone,
they would have the inheritance and each other.
I realized then that they hadn't just been cheating.
They were vultures,
waiting for my father to pass so they could strip the bones of our family.
I picked up the phone and called my father's lawyer.
"Is he awake?"
I asked,
referring to my father,
who was currently in a nursing home with failing memory.
"He's having a good day, Sarah,"
the lawyer replied.
"Why?"
"I need to change his will,"
I said,
my voice hardening.
"And I need to do it before Eleanor finds out I know."
I spent the rest of the day gathering every scrap of evidence I could find.
I found a hidden compartment in the back of Julian's closet.
Inside was a second phone,
filled with voice messages from Eleanor.
Some were loving,
some were demanding,
and some were detailed plans on how to gaslight me if I ever got suspicious.
"She's too trusting,"
Eleanor's voice hissed from the speaker.
"She'll believe whatever you tell her, Julian."
"Just give her a kiss and tell her she's imagining things."
I gripped the phone so hard I thought the glass would shatter.
They had laughed at me.
They had sat at my table,
played with my daughter,
and laughed at how easy it was to fool me.
I wasn't just a wife or a daughter to them.
I was an obstacle to be managed.
I looked at Chloe,
who was playing quietly with her dolls in the hallway.
She was the only real thing left in my life.
I made a vow then,
standing in that room of secrets.
May you like
I would take everything from them.
I would burn their plans to the ground and leave them with nothing but the ink on their skin.
