Chapter 1 - SEAT 7C
Julian looked up from his tablet and froze when I slid into seat 7C.
For one perfect second, neither he nor Chloe moved.
The airplane cabin hummed around us. Overhead bins clicked shut. Passengers shuffled down the aisle with carry-ons and coats, annoyed at the usual boarding delays.
I placed my passport in the seat pocket, set my leather folder on my lap, and smiled.
“Surprise. Chicago looks a lot like Miami.”
Julian’s face lost color.
Beside him, Chloe’s smile died slowly. She was blonde, pretty, and dressed in soft pink like she thought she was beginning a romantic weekend.
She had no idea she was sitting beside the wife.
Julian lowered his tablet too fast.
“Elena—what the hell are you doing here?”
I removed my sunglasses.
No tears.
No shaking.
I had done all that six weeks earlier in the bathroom while he told me he would be in Chicago for a quarterly client review.
Now I was calm.
That frightened him more.
I opened the folder.
Julian leaned toward me, trying to block Chloe’s view.
Too late.
I took out the first stack of photographs and dropped them onto his tray table.
They landed faceup.
Hotel lobby.
Restaurant patio.
Airport curb.
Julian’s hand on Chloe’s lower back.
Chloe laughing in the passenger seat of his car.
Julian kissing her outside a private entrance he had told me belonged to a client office.
“Six months,” I said. “Hotels. Restaurants. Every lie.”
Chloe recoiled as if the photos had burned her.
She turned toward Julian.
“What is this?”
He reached for the pictures.
I pulled the folder back first.
“Don’t.”
Nearby passengers glanced over.
Julian’s composure cracked around the edges. Sweat appeared near his temple.
“Elena, this is not the place.”
“You picked the place when you booked two first-class tickets to Miami under a travel profile I pay for.”
Chloe stared at him.
“Julian.”
He did not look at her.
That told her more than any answer.
“You told me your marriage was already over!”
The cabin door shut with a heavy click.
The plane began to push back.
I took one final sealed document from the folder and kept it facedown on my lap.
Julian saw the envelope.
Whatever blood remained in his face disappeared.
“Where did you get that?”
I smiled.
Small.
Controlled.
May you like
“The same place I got seat 7C.”
For once, my husband had nowhere to walk away.
