Chapter 1 - THE BOARDING PASS
I saw my husband’s hand on Vanessa Reed’s waist before I saw his face. For three seconds, I stood beneath the bright airport departure boards and tried to convince myself the man kissing her could not be Julian Carter. Same navy suit.
Same silver watch I had given him on our tenth anniversary. Same habit of curling his fingers against a woman’s back when he wanted her closer. Then they separated.
Vanessa smiled against his mouth. “Your stupid wife still trusts you?” Julian laughed.
Quietly. The sound hurt worse than the kiss. “By tomorrow, she’ll have no house, no money, nothing.”
My passport suddenly felt heavy in my hand. So did the boarding pass. I had come to the airport because Julian told me he was flying to Chicago for a corporate restructuring meeting. I was leaving on a trip of my own, one I had not told him about because the attorney who called me three days earlier had specifically asked me not to discuss it until we met in person.
Until that moment, I had felt guilty about the secrecy. Then I heard my husband planning to leave me with nothing. Heartbreak became something colder.
I stepped from behind the column. Julian saw me. His face emptied.
“Elena—” I slapped him once. Hard. His head snapped sideways.
Then I stopped. Travelers stared. Vanessa did not look embarrassed.
She looked irritated. “He chose me,” she said. “Go home and pack your shit.”
I looked at her. Then at Julian. Then I smiled.
“You really think that house is his?” Vanessa’s expression changed. Only slightly.
Julian’s changed completely. His eyes dropped to the boarding pass in my hand. The destination was printed there.
He saw it. I watched the blood leave his face. “Where the hell are you going?”
I did not answer. Because the destination was Savannah, Georgia. And Julian knew exactly who lived there.
My late father’s older sister, Margaret Hale. The woman Julian had spent eight years telling me was confused, bitter, and obsessed with destroying our marriage. The woman who had called me three days earlier and said only: “Elena, before you sign anything Julian puts in front of you, come see me. Your father left something he never meant your husband to find.”
Julian stared at the boarding pass. Then he reached for his phone. Not to call me.
May you like
Not to explain Vanessa. He called someone else. I saw the contact name before he turned the screen away.
MARTIN VALE. Our family attorney. And suddenly I understood that whatever waited for me in Savannah frightened Julian more than being caught with another woman.
