Chapter 5: The Meeting Behind My Back
I didn’t enter the house.
That was the hardest thing I had ever done.
Every part of me wanted to open that door and demand answers.
I wanted Damon to see my face.
I wanted Claire to know I had heard everything.
But anger was temporary.
Evidence was forever.
So I quietly stepped away.
I sat in my car for twenty minutes, staring at my own reflection in the windshield.
A pregnant woman.
A wedding ring.
A face that looked older than it did yesterday.
I touched my stomach.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
Not because I had failed.
Because I had trusted the wrong people.
When I finally drove away, I didn’t go home.
I went to Rachel’s.
She opened the door and immediately knew something happened.
“You heard them.””
I nodded.
“They’re planning something.””
“What?””
I looked at her.
“They didn’t say.””
Rachel frowned.
“Then we find out.””
That night, we made a list.
Every strange thing Damon had done.
Every unusual conversation.
Every missing piece.
At the top of the list was Claire.
At the bottom was Victoria.
Claire’s mother.
The woman whose name appeared in the notebook.
The next morning, I did something I never thought I would do.
I contacted Owen.
Claire’s fiancé.
The man she was supposed to marry.
The man who had no idea his entire relationship was built on lies.
I stared at his number for almost five minutes.
Then I typed.
*Can we meet? It’s about Claire.*
He replied within seconds.
*Is she okay?*
I almost felt sorry for him.
Almost.
We met at a quiet coffee shop across town.
Owen arrived looking concerned.
“Emily, what’s going on?””
I studied his face.
He looked exactly like Damon had looked before I knew the truth.
Confident.
Trusting.
Destroyed without realizing it.
“I need to ask you something.””
“Okay.””
“Did Claire ever tell you she knew Damon before you met her?””
His expression changed.
“What?””
“Answer me.””
“No.””
I slid my phone across the table.
The picture.
The camisole.
The bedroom.
His face went pale.
“Where did you get this?””
“Under my bed.””
He looked away.
“No.””
The word came out like a prayer.
Not denial.
Desperation.
“She wouldn’t.””
“I wanted to believe that too.””
Owen rubbed his forehead.
“How long?””
“I don’t know.””
He stared at the table.
Then quietly said:
“She told me Damon was like a brother to her.””
I almost smiled.
A bitter, painful smile.
“Apparently he was something else.””
Owen looked at me.
“What do you want from me?””
“The truth.””
He was silent.
Then he reached into his phone.
“I found something strange a few months ago.””
“What?””
“Claire had a second bank account.””
My stomach tightened.
“Did you ask her?””
“Yes.””
“What did she say?””
He laughed sadly.
“She said I was being controlling.””
Rachel was right.
Everything was about control.
Manipulation.
Making people question themselves.
Owen opened his banking app.
“There were payments.””
“To who?””
He turned the phone around.
My heart stopped.
The account receiving money was under a company name.
A company I recognized.
Damon’s side business.
They weren’t just cheating.
They were moving money.
Together.
“I’m sorry,” Owen whispered.
I looked at him.
“You’re not the person who needs to apologize.””
When I returned home, Damon was waiting.
He stood in the hallway.
“You’ve been gone a long time.””
“I was visiting Rachel.””
His eyes narrowed slightly.
“You didn’t tell me.””
“I didn’t think I needed permission.””
The sentence surprised both of us.
Because it was the first time I had spoken like someone who wasn’t afraid.
Damon recovered quickly.
“Of course not.””
But his smile was gone.
That night, I pretended to sleep.
At 1:12 a.m., Damon got out of bed.
Quietly.
Carefully.
I kept my eyes closed.
He walked downstairs.
A few minutes later, I heard his voice.
“Victoria, we have a problem.””
My heart started racing.
I grabbed my phone.
Recording.
Then I heard Claire’s mother answer.
“What happened?””
“She’s asking questions.””
A pause.
Then Victoria said something that made my blood freeze.
“Then we need to remove Emily from the decision completely.””
I stopped breathing.
Because suddenly, I understood.
May you like
They weren’t planning to leave me.
They were planning to erase me.
