Chapter 5 - Sierra CallowayThree weeks later, Sierra called me.
I almost didn't answer.
Then curiosity won.
“Hello?”
“Lauren.”
Her voice sounded different.
Not confident.
Not seductive.
Afraid.
“What do you want?”
“I need to tell you something.”
“You're already telling me everything through your lawyer.”
“This is different.”
I waited.
“I didn't know about the money.”
I laughed.
“You moved into a penthouse paid for with it.”
“I thought Cole owned it.”
“You thought wrong.”
“I know that now.”
“Then what do you want?”
“I want to show you something.”
She sent me an address.
A private restaurant.
I almost refused.
Mr. Harris advised me to meet her only in a public place.
So I did.
Sierra arrived ten minutes late.
She looked exhausted.
“What happened?”
“He lied to me too.”
I stared at her.
“About what?”
“He told me you were separated.”
I said nothing.
“He said you hadn't been intimate in years.”
I almost laughed.
“That wasn't true.”
“I know.”
She looked down.
“I also didn't know he was tracking your phone.”
My stomach tightened.
“What?”
“He showed me the location.”
I stared at her.
“He said you were obsessed with him.”
I felt sick.
“He had an app installed.”
“Where?”
“Your phone.”
I didn't respond.
She continued.
“He also had access to your email.”
Mr. Harris had suspected it.
Now I knew.
“He showed me messages between you and your friends.”
I closed my eyes.
Cole hadn't just controlled my money.
He had invaded my privacy.
Sierra reached into her purse.
“I brought this.”
She placed a flash drive on the table.
“What is it?”
“Everything I have.”
Emails.
Messages.
Bank records.
Photographs.
And one audio recording.
Cole's voice.
Lauren will never leave. She doesn't know what she has.
I listened.
Then another recording.
Once the twins are older, I'll make sure she gets almost nothing.
My hands curled into fists.
Sierra looked ashamed.
“I should have left him sooner.”
I nodded.
“You should have.”
She swallowed.
“I'm sorry.”
I looked at her.
“I don't forgive you.”
She nodded.
“I understand.”
“But I appreciate the evidence.”
She stood.
“Then I guess that's all.”
Before leaving, she turned.
“Lauren?”
“Yes?”
“He never loved either of us the way he claimed.”
Then she walked away.
I stared at the flash drive.
For years, I had believed Sierra was the enemy.
She wasn't.
She was another person Cole had lied to.
The real enemy had been the man who needed everyone around him to believe his version of reality.
That night, I went home.
Noah was sleeping.
Lily was laughing at a stuffed rabbit.
I picked her up.
“You know what, sweetheart?”
She grabbed my hair.
May you like
I smiled.
“Mommy is never letting anyone decide her worth again.”
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