Chapter 5: What Sandra Knew
I found her through the investigator's report.
Sandra Ellison.
Forty-one years old.
She worked at the same commercial real estate firm as Tyler — not as a colleague, but as a client liaison on the building they managed downtown.
Her name appeared six times in the report.
The investigator had noted her as a secondary contact, not a primary subject.
He hadn't dug into her.
I did.
It took me one phone call to the firm's main line and a politely worded message left with the receptionist.
She called back within the hour.
"I wasn't sure you'd reach out," she said.
"I wasn't sure either," I said.
"But you sent that message for a reason."
"I did."
"Then tell me."
A pause.
"Can we meet in person?"
We met at a coffee shop two towns over — her suggestion, which told me she didn't want to be seen locally.
She was already there when I arrived, sitting at a corner table with both hands around a mug, not drinking from it.
She looked tired.
Not guilty — tired.
"I didn't know about you at first," she said before I'd even sat down.
"I want you to know that.
When Tyler and I started — I thought he was separated."
"He told you that?"
"He showed me an apartment lease.
Said he'd moved out six months before we met." She looked down at the mug.
"I found out the truth about eight months in.
I ended it immediately."
"But you stayed quiet," I said.
"I did." She met my eyes.
"And I've regretted it ever since."
"Why are you telling me now?"
She reached into her bag and pulled out a manila envelope.
Set it on the table between us.
"Because of this," she said.
"He came to me two weeks ago.
Asked me to sign something.
Said it was a formality — a release related to the building contract.
I almost signed it." She pushed the envelope toward me.
"Then I read it."
I opened the envelope.
It was a non-disclosure agreement.
Sandra's name was on it.
So was mine.
The document was designed to prevent either of us from making claims against Tyler or his business interests in the event of a divorce proceeding.
He'd drafted it before Rachel had even knocked on my door.
"He was already planning the divorce," I said.
"He's been planning it for months," Sandra said.
"He told me — when he came to ask me to sign — that he was going to leave you for Rachel.
That he needed to protect the business assets first.
That's why he needed my signature.
I was a loose end."
I set the document on the table.
"Will you give me a copy of this?" I asked.
"I made three," she said.
"One for you.
One for my own attorney.
One in a safe place."
I looked at her across the table.
"Why?" I asked.
Not accusingly.
I genuinely wanted to know.
She was quiet for a moment.
"Because he lied to both of us," she said.
"And I'm not going to let him use me to hurt you."
I folded the envelope carefully and put it in my bag.
Outside the window, the street was ordinary — people walking, a bus pulling away, a child on a bicycle.
Everything exactly as it always was.
When I got back to my car, I sat for a moment before starting the engine.
My phone buzzed.
A text from Tyler: *I heard you met with Sandra.
We need to talk before this goes any further.*
I put the phone in my bag without answering.
May you like
There was nothing left to talk about.
But there was still one thing Tyler didn't know — and when he found out, his carefully constructed plan was going to fall apart completely.
