Chapter 7: The Woman He Tried To Erase
The words stayed in my mind long after the call ended.
You’re the third.
I stood in the middle of the coffee shop, unable to move.
The noise around me disappeared.
The conversations.
The coffee machines.
The footsteps.
Everything became distant.
Because my brain was trying to understand something my heart already knew.
Marcus had not made one mistake.
He had built a pattern.
“Nia?””
Daniel’s voice pulled me back.
I looked at him.
“She says I’m the third.””
His face changed immediately.
Not shock.
Recognition.
And that scared me.
“You know who she is.””
Daniel looked down.
“I was hoping she would never have to contact you.””
My chest tightened.
“Who is she?””
Before Daniel could answer, the woman’s voice came through the phone again.
“My name is Lauren.””
I sat back down slowly.
“Lauren what?””
There was a pause.
“Lauren Bennett.””
Daniel closed his eyes.
I noticed.
And that told me everything.
“You know her.””
Daniel nodded.
“Yes.””
“Then explain.””
Daniel looked at me.
“Lauren was Marcus’s first serious relationship after college.””
The room felt colder.
“First?””
Lauren spoke softly.
“No. I was the first woman he married.””
My fingers went numb.
I couldn’t breathe for a second.
Married.
The word echoed.
I looked at Daniel.
“What did she just say?””
He didn’t answer.
He didn’t need to.
Because Lauren repeated it.
“Marcus and I were married for two years.””
I felt like I was falling.
Not because I loved Marcus less.
But because I suddenly realized I had never known who I loved at all.
“How?””
My voice barely came out.
“How can someone be married three times?””
Lauren sighed.
“Because Marcus knows how to disappear before people compare stories.””
I closed my eyes.
The picture became clearer.
The lies.
The different versions.
The carefully controlled information.
He wasn’t hiding one relationship.
He was separating entire worlds.
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?””
Lauren laughed softly.
But there was no humor in it.
“I tried.””
The same answer.
Again.
Everyone tried.
“And?””
“He made sure nobody believed me.””
I looked at Daniel.
He nodded.
“He told people Lauren was obsessed. That she couldn’t accept the divorce.””
My stomach turned.
The same story.
Different woman.
Different year.
Same script.
Lauren continued.
“He convinced everyone I was unstable.””
My hands clenched.
“What happened between you two?””
There was silence.
Then Lauren said something I wasn’t expecting.
“He found someone else.””
My heart sank.
“Claire?””
“Yes.””
I looked at Daniel.
“The timeline…”
He nodded.
“Lauren disappeared from Marcus’s life. Then Claire appeared.””
“And after Claire?””
Daniel looked at me.
“You.””
My throat tightened.
“And Olivia.””
Nobody spoke.
Because the truth was finally standing in front of me.
Marcus didn’t have affairs.
He replaced women.
Like chapters.
Like people could simply be removed from his story.
“Why are you telling me now?”” I asked Lauren.
Her voice became quiet.
“Because I saw your picture.””
“My picture?””
“Yes.””
I frowned.
“Where?””
“On Marcus’s desk.””
I froze.
“What?””
Lauren continued.
“Not a wedding picture. Not a family picture. A picture of you from recently.””
My heart skipped.
“He kept a picture of me?””
“Yes.””
That confused me more than anything.
“If he was doing this, why?””
Lauren’s answer was painful.
“Because that’s how Marcus works.””
I waited.
“He doesn’t hate the people he hurts.””
A chill moved through me.
“He convinces himself he loves all of them.””
The sentence broke something inside me.
Because that was the most terrifying possibility.
Not that Marcus felt nothing.
But that he could feel something and still destroy people.
Daniel opened the folder he had placed on the table.
“Nia, you need to see this.””
I looked at the papers.
For a second, I hesitated.
Then I opened the folder.
The first page was a copy of a legal document.
My eyes moved across the page.
And then stopped.
My name.
Marcus’s name.
A date.
A signature.
I looked up.
“What is this?””
Daniel’s expression was serious.
“An agreement Marcus prepared six months ago.””
I read the title again.
“Separation agreement?””
My hands shook.
“He was planning to leave me?””
Daniel didn’t answer.
Because the answer was obvious.
But then I saw something else.
A section highlighted near the bottom.
And my heart stopped.
“Daniel…”
“Yes?””
“He listed me as…”
I couldn’t finish.
Lauren’s voice came through the phone.
“What does it say?””
I looked closer.
And suddenly I understood why Marcus had been so confident.
Why he wasn’t afraid of being exposed.
Why he thought he could control the situation.
Because according to this document, he believed I had nothing.
Not the house.
Not the savings.
Not even the life I thought we built together.
I looked at Daniel.
“Where did he get this?””
Daniel’s face became tense.
“He didn’t get it.””
“Then?””
“He created it.””
My phone suddenly buzzed.
A message from Marcus.
This time, it wasn’t an apology.
It wasn’t a request.
It was a warning.
You need to stop digging, Nia.
I stared at the words.
Then another message appeared.
You have no idea what you’re about to lose.
For the first time that day, I wasn’t afraid.
I looked at Daniel.
Then at Lauren.
Then back at Marcus’s message.
And I realized something.
Marcus had spent years controlling everyone’s stories.
May you like
But he made one mistake.
He underestimated the people he left behind.
