Chapter 3 - The Woman in the Lobby
Chloe looked different from the photographs.
Smaller.
More tired.
Less like the mysterious woman who had haunted my marriage and more like someone who had not slept properly in months.
A newborn boy slept in the carriage beside her.
She saw Daniel first.
Her expression softened.
Then she saw me.
Everything changed.
Daniel hurried into the lobby.
“Why are you here?”
Chloe frowned.
“You told me to come tonight.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did.”
She took out her phone.
Daniel reached for it.
Chloe pulled it away.
My attorney had warned me not to interfere with whatever happened after I revealed the evidence.
Observe.
Document.
Do not argue.
So I stood beside my mother and watched.
Chloe scrolled.
“You said the rooms would be ready after six.”
Daniel’s face tightened.
“I never sent that.”
Chloe looked confused.
Then she noticed Patricia standing behind him.
“Mrs. Carter.”
Patricia recoiled as though hearing her own name from Chloe made everything more real.
Chloe looked toward Lily.
Her eyes remained there for a long second.
Then she looked at me.
“You must be Jennifer.”
I said nothing.
She swallowed.
“I’m sorry.”
Daniel spun toward her.
“Stop talking.”
That got my attention.
Chloe’s expression hardened.
“Excuse me?”
“Just take Noah upstairs.”
“No.”
Daniel glanced around the lobby.
People were watching again.
His public image was collapsing faster than he could repair it.
“Chloe.”
She lifted her chin.
“You said tonight was when everything changed.”
I finally spoke.
“What exactly did he tell you would change?”
Daniel stepped between us.
“Jennifer, leave her out of this.”
I almost smiled.
“You brought her into it.”
Chloe looked at me.
Then at Daniel.
“He told me you were separating.”
I felt my mother stiffen beside me.
Chloe continued.
“He said you were only living together because of the pregnancy.”
Daniel muttered something under his breath.
“He said Lily had complicated the timing.”
My hand tightened around the stroller.
“Complicated the timing?”
Chloe’s face changed when she realized how horrible the words sounded.
“That’s what he said.”
I looked at Daniel.
He would not meet my eyes.
Chloe whispered, “He told me you knew about us.”
“No.”
Her face lost color.
“He said you had agreed to stay married publicly until after the baptism.”
“No.”
“He said this party was a goodbye.”
I glanced back toward the ballroom.
The flowers.
The cake.
The framed photographs of Daniel holding Lily.
The speeches about family.
A goodbye.
Daniel had apparently written two completely different stories.
One for me.
One for Chloe.
And expected both women to finance his future.
Then Noah woke.
He began crying softly.
Daniel instinctively reached toward the carriage.
Chloe stopped him.
That tiny movement told me something had changed.
She was beginning to understand she had been lied to as well.
My phone vibrated.
A message from my attorney, Claire Morrison.
Do not leave yet.
Then another message appeared.
I found something in the financial disclosures.
Ask Daniel about Carter Consulting LLC.
I read the name twice.
I had never heard of the company.
May you like
But when I looked up, Daniel was watching my phone.
And somehow, he knew exactly what I had just learned.
