Chapter 4: The Second Phone
Chloe and I stood in the silence he left behind.
She was the first to move.
She walked to the kitchen counter, opened a drawer, and pulled out a phone in a plain black case.
She set it on the counter between us without a word.
"Is that it?" I said.
"That's it."
I looked at it.
"Have you gone through it?"
"Enough of it." She pulled out a chair and sat down, suddenly looking exhausted.
"Sit down, Karen.
Please."
I sat.
"I found it in his coat pocket three weeks ago," she said.
"I thought it was a work phone.
He travels for work sometimes — or I thought he did." She pressed her lips together.
"I charged it.
It wasn't password protected.
I don't know if he forgot or if he just never thought I'd find it."
"What was on it?"
She looked at the table.
"Messages.
Going back almost two years." A pause.
"To more than one woman."
I didn't say anything.
"I confronted him," she said.
"He told me I was overreacting.
That they were clients.
That I was insecure and immature." She laughed — a short, hollow sound.
"Immature.
I'm twenty-four years old and he told me I was immature for not understanding."
"What did you do?"
"I kept the phone." She looked up at me.
"And then I started looking at the finances.
I'd never paid much attention before.
He handled everything.
He said it was easier that way." Her voice tightened.
"I found the folder about a week later.
In a box in the back of the closet.
Behind his old tax files."
I thought about the folder still in my hands.
About my name on the first page.
"Why is my name in here?" I said.
Chloe was quiet for a moment.
"There are documents in there from your divorce.
I think he kept them as reference.
To make sure his story stayed consistent." She paused.
"There's also a letter."
I hadn't seen a letter.
I went back through the pages.
Near the middle, folded in half and tucked between two bank statements, was a single sheet of paper.
I unfolded it.
It was handwritten.
Daniel's handwriting — I would have recognized it anywhere.
It was addressed to someone named Ray.
*The settlement is done.
K got the house proceeds and the account.
She doesn't know about the Hartwell transfer.
Keep the LLC quiet for another eighteen months and then we can move the asset.*
My vision blurred for a second.
*K.* Me.
He had written about me like I was a line item.
"Who is Ray?" I said.
"I don't know yet," Chloe said.
"But the name comes up in the messages on the second phone too."
I set the letter down on the table.
"Chloe," I said carefully.
"Why did you call me?
Tonight, of all nights — why me?"
She looked at me for a long moment.
"Because he did this to you first," she said.
"And you deserved to know." She glanced at the folder.
"And because I'm twenty-four years old and I don't know what to do with any of this, and you've already survived him once."
Something moved in my chest.
Not warmth exactly.
Recognition.
"I'm going to take this folder," I said.
"I know.
I made copies."
"Smart."
"I've been called worse." She almost smiled.
I stood up, folder in hand.
My legs felt steadier than I expected.
"Don't let him back in tonight," I said.
"He has a key."
"Change the locks in the morning.
First thing."
She nodded.
I walked to the door.
Then stopped.
"Chloe.
The second phone — don't give it to him.
Don't let him know you still have it."
"I won't."
"And don't be alone with him."
She looked at me with something I hadn't expected to see on her face.
Fear.
"Karen," she said.
"There's one more thing I didn't show you."
I turned around.
She picked up the second phone and opened it to a message thread.
She held it out to me.
I read the last message Daniel had sent — not to a woman, not to Ray, but to a number with no name attached.
*She's asking too many questions.
May you like
We need to move faster.*
The timestamp was from four days ago.
