Chapter 2 - THE CALL
“Chloe?”
Adam sounded irritated.
Not frightened.
Not guilty.
Yet.
“Chloe, answer me.”
No one on the patio moved.
Emma held the phone.
Chloe shook her head frantically.
Emma ignored her.
Adam continued.
“I told you not to do anything tonight.”
Emma’s heartbeat changed.
Not because of the affair.
Something about the sentence felt different.
Do anything.
Chloe whispered:
“Hang up.”
Emma looked at her.
“Why?”
Adam heard the voice.
Silence.
Then:
“Emma?”
Nobody breathed.
Emma said:
“Hi, Adam.”
The line went dead.
Immediately.
Chloe reached for the phone.
Emma pulled it away.
“What was he telling you not to do?”
“Nothing.”
Emma laughed.
“You’re still lying?”
“It wasn’t about us.”
That stopped Emma.
“What wasn’t?”
Chloe looked toward Linda.
“Mom, make her stop.”
Linda stared at her.
“No.”
Chloe looked genuinely shocked.
For thirty-three years, Linda had been the mediator.
The one who said both girls had gone too far.
The one who made them apologize before dinner.
Tonight she did not rescue Chloe.
Emma asked again.
“What was Adam talking about?”
Chloe wiped her face.
“Financial stuff.”
Emma’s stomach tightened.
“What financial stuff?”
“His work.”
“My husband discusses commercial finance with you?”
“No.”
“Then?”
Chloe looked trapped.
Emma remembered several messages she had photographed but not yet understood.
Transfer cleared.
Use your business account.
Don’t move it until I say.
She doesn’t check that statement.
Emma felt cold.
“What money?”
Chloe’s face changed.
That was answer enough.
Linda noticed too.
“What money?” Linda asked.
Chloe shook her head.
“It’s complicated.”
Emma stepped closer.
“Make it simple.”
“Adam was moving some money.”
“Whose?”
“He said it was his.”
Emma stared.
“Where?”
Chloe’s lips trembled.
“My account.”
Linda whispered:
“Oh my God.”
Emma’s anger suddenly became focused.
The affair had been emotional devastation.
Money introduced danger.
She held up Chloe’s phone.
“Unlock it.”
“No.”
“Unlock it.”
“Emma—”
“Four years of sleeping with my husband was personal.”
Emma’s voice dropped.
“If you have been hiding marital money for him, this is something else.”
Chloe looked away.
Emma understood.
There was something on that phone worth protecting more than the affair.
She did not grab it.
Did not threaten.
She simply said:
“Fine.”
Then she gave Chloe the phone.
Chloe looked surprised.
Emma picked up her purse.
Linda caught her arm.
“Where are you going?”
“Home.”
“Don’t go alone.”
Emma looked at her mother.
“I’m not going to fight him.”
Linda said:
“That’s not what I’m worried about.”
May you like
Neither was Emma.
She was worried about what could disappear before morning.
