For the first time in months, she slept.
Not well.
But honestly.
The next morning, Trevor arrived at Elaine Mercer’s office before Simone did.
That alone told her everything.
He was waiting in the lobby wearing the navy suit she had bought him for his promotion dinner, his hair messy, his eyes red. When Simone stepped out of the elevator, his face changed with relief so dramatic it might have worked on her the day before.
“Simone,” he said, standing.
Elaine’s receptionist immediately looked up.
Simone stopped several feet away. “Why are you here?”
“I followed your location.”
The lobby went silent.
Simone’s face went cold. “Excuse me?”
Trevor realized his mistake too late. “I mean, your phone location. We share it. I was worried.”
Elaine appeared from the hallway at that exact moment, wearing black glasses and an expression that made Trevor shrink half an inch.
“Mr. Patterson,” Elaine said, “thank you for admitting you tracked my client without permission after she requested attorney communication only.”
Trevor paled. “I’m her husband.”
Elaine smiled. “For now.”
Simone almost laughed.
Trevor looked wounded. “Simone, please. I panicked. I love you.”
“No,” Simone said quietly. “You love access to me.”
His face crumpled. “That’s not fair.”
“What part? My car? My patience? My paycheck? My forgiveness? Which access are you afraid of losing first?”
He had no answer.
Elaine stepped slightly in front of Simone. “You need to leave.”
Trevor looked past her. “Simone, Candace might be charged.”
Simone’s eyes hardened. “Good.”
“She’s pregnant.”
The words hit the lobby like a thrown glass.
For a moment, Simone heard nothing.
Elaine turned slowly toward Trevor. “Is Ms. Thompson pregnant with your child?”
Trevor’s mouth opened.
Closed.
Simone’s knees nearly weakened, but she locked them.
Fourteen months.
Of course there was more.
There was always more.
Trevor whispered, “She says she is.”
Simone looked at him and felt something inside her finally detach completely. The pain did not vanish. It simply lost authority. A man who could stand in a lawyer’s lobby and use his mistress’s pregnancy as a reason his wife should protect her from consequences had crossed from betrayal into absurdity.
“Then she should stop committing crimes before motherhood,” Simone said.
Trevor flinched.
Elaine’s lips pressed together, not quite hiding approval.
“Mr. Patterson,” Elaine said, “leave now, or I will have building security escort you out.”
He left.
But not before looking at Simone like she had become someone cruel.
That almost made her laugh again.
The woman who had worked, forgiven, cleaned, planned, loved, ignored instincts, and tried to save an eight-year marriage was now cruel because she refused to bleed quietly.
Inside Elaine’s office, Simone sat in a leather chair and stared at the skyline of Charlotte through the wide windows. The city looked normal. Cars moved. People crossed streets holding coffee. Somewhere, women were probably walking into offices, holding families together, answering emails, and not yet knowing the exact hour their lives would split in two.
Elaine placed a glass of water beside her. “Breathe.”
Simone did.
Badly.
Elaine opened a file. “Now we work.”
Work turned out to be the thing that saved Simone from falling apart.
They pulled credit reports. They reviewed joint bank accounts. They found charges at restaurants Simone had never visited. Hotel stays in Asheville, Charleston, and Atlanta. Jewelry purchases. Cash withdrawals. A second phone line paid from their joint account and listed as a “business expense.” Payments to a luxury apartment complex near Ballantyne where Candace apparently lived.
Then Elaine found the home equity line.
Simone stared at the document. “What is that?”
Elaine’s face changed. “A $60,000 home equity line of credit opened six months ago.”
“I didn’t sign that.”
“Your digital signature appears here.”
Simone stood too fast. “No. I never signed that. I didn’t even know this existed.”
Elaine’s expression became very still.
“Then the car may be the smallest problem.”
The $60,000 had been drawn down almost entirely.
$18,000 paid toward Trevor’s credit card.
$12,500 transferred to Candace.
$9,800 spent at a jewelry store.
$7,200 used for a vacation rental in Hilton Head.
