Chapter 3 - THE LEAK
“Who accessed my records?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
“Daniel.”
“I need to check.”
“You already know.”
“No, I don’t.”
“You said ‘fuck.’”
“Amy, listen to me.”
“No. You listen to me. Someone knows I’m pregnant.”
The line went dead quiet.
Completely quiet.
Daniel’s breathing changed.
“What did you just say?”
Amy closed her eyes.
Too late.
She had said it.
For seventeen weeks she had imagined telling him in a thousand different ways.
At dinner.
In bed.
With the ultrasound photo.
With a tiny pair of socks.
Instead, she had just told him while sitting in the back of a hired car because somebody had apparently dug through her medical records.
“Amy…”
She hated the crack in his voice.
“Don’t.”
“You’re pregnant?”
She pressed her palm against her eyes.
“Yes.”
“How far?”
“Seventeen weeks.”
“Seventeen?”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
Something inside her snapped.
“You missed two appointments.”
“I didn’t know they were appointments.”
“Exactly.”
“I thought they were—”
“Dental? Yoga? God knows what?”
“Amy, that’s not fair.”
She laughed bitterly.
“Fair?”
“I didn’t know.”
“You weren’t around enough to know.”
“I’ve been working.”
“There it is.”
“I built that company for us.”
“No, Daniel. You built it because you love winning.”
His voice sharpened.
“That’s bullshit.”
“Is it?”
“I worked eighteen-hour days so we could have this life.”
“What life?”
Silence.
Amy looked out at the dark road.
“What life, Daniel? The apartment I eat dinner in alone? The driver who knows my schedule better than you do? The husband who tells another woman she looks dangerous at midnight?”
“I never sent that.”
“She sent it to you.”
“And I didn’t respond.”
“You deleted the responses.”
“I did not.”
Amy went still.
He sounded certain.
That bothered her.
“Then why was she writing like that?”
“I don’t know.”
“Right.”
“I’m serious.”
“And Chicago?”
Daniel hesitated.
“One drink after a donor dinner.”
“Alone?”
Another pause.
“That’s what I thought.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
“Stop saying that sentence.”
“Amy, please. Forget Vanessa for one second.”
“You seem pretty good at forgetting your wife.”
“Enough.”
The word came out hard.
Amy stared at the phone.
Daniel immediately softened.
“Sorry.”
She said nothing.
“I’m sorry,” he repeated. “But if you’re pregnant, this changes everything.”
Her jaw tightened.
“No.”
“What?”
“It changes nothing.”
“It changes everything.”
“For you.”
“For us.”
“There is no us right now.”
“Amy, don’t say that.”
“You don’t get to tell me what to say.”
“Where are you?”
“No.”
“I’m coming to you.”
“No.”
“Then at least tell me you’re safe.”
She almost answered.
Then the unknown number sent another message.
Ask him about Ryan. Ask why Ryan approved access to your benefits account.
Amy’s stomach rolled.
“Did Ryan access my records?”
Daniel didn’t speak.
“Daniel?”
“I don’t know.”
“That was too slow.”
“Amy, Ryan handles corporate insurance.”
“My insurance isn’t corporate.”
“No, but after we married, you were added to—”
“Can he see my medical claims?”
“Not normally.”
“Not normally?”
“He’d need elevated access.”
“Does he have it?”
Daniel inhaled.
“Yes.”
Amy’s pulse hammered.
“And you trust him?”
“With my life.”
“Well, I don’t.”
“He’s not spying on you.”
“Somebody is.”
“I’ll find out.”
“No.”
“What do you mean, no?”
“I mean stay away from it.”
“Amy, someone accessed your private information.”
“Exactly. And I don’t know who I can trust.”
“You can trust me.”
She shut her eyes.
“That’s a hell of a thing to say tonight.”
Daniel went silent again.
Then:
“I deserved that.”
It was the first thing he’d said that didn’t make her angrier.
Amy hated that too.
The car pulled up to the hotel.
“I have to go.”
“Where are you?”
“Goodnight.”
“Amy—”
She ended the call.
Five minutes later, she checked into the hotel under her maiden name.
Emily Porter Harrison.
The desk clerk didn’t look twice.
She rode the elevator to the fourth floor, locked the door, pushed a chair under the handle, and turned off the lights.
Her phone vibrated.
The unknown number again.
This time, it was a photograph.
Amy opened it.
Her blood ran cold.
It showed Daniel standing outside a Chicago hotel.
Vanessa beside him.
Ryan Mercer behind them.
The timestamp was 1:47 a.m.
Amy zoomed in.
Daniel’s arm wasn’t around Vanessa.
Vanessa wasn’t touching him.
But Ryan was leaning toward Vanessa.
And Vanessa’s hand was pressed flat against Ryan’s chest.
Amy frowned.
Then another image arrived.
Vanessa kissing Ryan.
Not Daniel.
Ryan.
May you like
The message beneath it said:
You’ve been looking at the wrong betrayal.
