Chapter 1

Just as I got home from a business trip, a notification popped up on my phone: a seventy-dollar charge at a gas station.

I texted my husband, Marcus: "I've been gone for three days. Did you go on a road trip?"

He replied almost instantly: "Just went fishing out in the western suburbs with the guys."

My stomach dropped.

The gas station on the receipt was on the complete opposite side of town—way out east.

Marcus was lying. I called him immediately.

"I need the car. I have to head back to the office tonight."

Thirty minutes later, he walked through the door. I grabbed the keys from his hand and walked out before he could say another word.

I got in and checked the dashcam. It was completely wiped. Cleaned out.

He couldn’t have made his guilt more obvious if he tried.

I drove straight to our usual auto detailer. The owner smiled when she saw me pull in. "Back already? You guys sure love keeping this car clean. Your husband was just here yesterday!"

I arched an eyebrow. "Yeah, I can’t stand dirt. Give it a deep clean. By the way, how much is left on our prepaid card?"

She snapped on her rubber gloves and gestured with her chin toward the counter. "Ledger's right there. Take a look."

I flipped through the logbook where customers signed off on their balances.

Right next to my license plate number, in yesterday’s slot, was the signature: *Chloe Jenkins*.

Our balance was down to fifty bucks.

Marcus usually washed the car twice a month. There was no way he burned through hundreds of dollars that fast.

I flipped back through the previous pages. The car had been washed almost every single day this past month. And Chloe's apartment building happened to be right in the middle of a massive road construction zone, surrounded by mud and dust.

I snapped photos of the pages, then casually asked, "My husband brought my friend along yesterday, and she dropped a perfume sample in the car. Mind checking if it's there?"

"Perfume? Isn’t she pregnant? Pregnant women shouldn't be wearing strong scents!"

Her words hit me like a slap to the face. I masked my shock with a calm nod. "Right. It was a gift for someone else. Could you check the security footage to see if they dropped it?"

"Help yourself, the computer’s right there."

Since I was a regular, she went back to work while I pulled up the surveillance footage.

Yesterday at 1:30 PM.

Chloe and Marcus got out of the car, laughing and flirting.

They kept their distance at first, but when Marcus got back into the driver's seat, Chloe leaned through the passenger window and kissed him deeply on the lips.

I recorded the screen on my phone and saved it.

Next, I went straight to the bank to pull the statements for our joint account.

The balance was sitting at roughly eighty-nine thousand dollars. Every month, I deposited a thousand, and Marcus put in five hundred. But like clockwork on the fifth of every month, six hundred dollars had been automatically transferred to Chloe's personal account.

We had an agreement: that joint account was strictly for family emergencies.

Yet here he was, secretly financing his side piece.

The transfers had started three months ago.

Chloe was a girl I had personally sponsored.

When she was a struggling college kid, I gave her part-time work at my firm and wired her an extra two hundred bucks every month so she could finish her degree.

She constantly cried about wanting to repay my kindness.

Turns out, she decided to repay me by sleeping with my husband.

I scoffed, printed all the evidence, and marched straight into Marcus’s office at our company. I slammed the papers directly onto his desk.

"Explain this."

Marcus stared at the bank statements and the photos. His face went from pure panic to defensiveness in a split second.

"You tracked me? You’re spying on me?!"

"Tracking you? The fishing spot is out west, but you bought gas on the east side. You were making out with Chloe at the car wash yesterday. Do you really think I need to hire a private investigator to see through your bullshit?"

"And what right do you have to touch our joint emergency fund?"

Marcus took a deep breath, trying to play it cool. "Natalie, babe, you’re misunderstanding everything. She’s the one who recommended that fishing spot. The main road was blocked, so I had to take a detour to the east side. I even ran into Mr. Harrison there—he can vouch for me!"

"And that kiss? Total optical illusion. It was just the angle of the camera."

"As for the money... didn't you always tell me to look out for her? She just started her career and asked to borrow six grand for a condo down payment. I didn't have that kind of cash upfront, so I sent it in monthly installments!"

"Babe, I swear to God, you're the only woman in my life!"

I sat back in my chair, looking down at him. Marcus dropped to one knee before me, tilting his face up at a rehearsed, flattering angle.

Too bad he was pushing thirty-five. All I could see were the crow’s feet around his eyes. It was utterly pathetic.