Chapter 2 - Two Phones, One Liar
Tiana wanted to invite Adrian to her house.
I wanted to drag him into the street.
Neither option felt smart.
"We can't let him know we've talked," she said.
I paced her kitchen.
"He might already know."
"How?"
"He knows everything. Somehow."
Tiana gave me a sharp look.
"Does he have your location?"
I froze.
Months earlier, Adrian had insisted we share locations "for safety."
I grabbed my phone.
My location sharing was still active.
Tiana checked hers.
"So is mine."
We both switched it off.
My stomach twisted.
"He'll notice."
"Good," she said. "Let him worry."
I called my sister, Camille.
She answered on the second ring.
"Girl, where are you? You sounded crazy earlier."
"I need you to pick up Caleb and Zoe."
Silence.
"Why?"
"Because I'm not bringing this mess home."
Camille's voice changed immediately.
"What happened?"
"I'll explain later."
"Are you safe?"
I looked at Tiana.
"Yeah."
It was strange saying that inside the home of the woman I'd planned to confront.
But I meant it.
Camille agreed to get my children.
When I hung up, Tiana was studying Adrian's messages.
"He told me his divorce attorney was finalizing paperwork."
"There is no divorce attorney."
"He even gave me a name."
"What name?"
"Marcus Bell."
I almost dropped my phone.
"That's his cousin."
Tiana stared.
"You're kidding."
"No."
She laughed once.
It sounded painful.
"This man is unbelievable."
I sat back down.
"Tell him you'll see him."
She typed.
Sure. Come by at eight.
A moment later, Adrian responded.
Can't tonight. Emergency at home.
I showed her my screen.
He had messaged me too.
Work emergency. Going to be late. Don't wait up.
Tiana covered her face.
"He just lied to both of us in under thirty seconds."
My anger became something colder.
Sharper.
"We need proof."
"Of cheating?"
"No. Of whatever he's doing with my house."
Tiana nodded.
I called my friend Leah, who worked in real estate law.
I didn't tell her about the affair.
Not yet.
I described the documents Adrian had asked me to sign.
"Do you have copies?" Leah asked.
"I don't think so."
"Find them."
"What if I signed something bad?"
Her tone hardened.
"Then we find out before anything records."
I drove home alone.
The house looked normal.
That almost offended me.
The porch light Adrian installed last summer glowed softly.
Zoe's pink scooter leaned beside the garage.
One of Caleb's sneakers sat near the steps.
This was my life.
My home.
And suddenly I didn't know what my husband had done behind my back.
I entered quietly.
Adrian wasn't there.
His office door was locked.
That was new.
I searched the kitchen first.
Nothing.
Then our bedroom.
His side of the closet was neat.
Too neat.
I pulled drawers open.
Socks.
T-shirts.
Receipts.
Then I saw the small black folder tucked behind a shoebox.
Inside were bank statements.
Not ours.
An account in Adrian's name.
The balance was over sixty thousand dollars.
My breath caught.
We had argued two months earlier because he said we couldn't afford a new transmission for my car.
He had made me feel irresponsible for asking.
I flipped to the next statement.
Large deposits.
Transfers.
Then one line made my vision blur.
Transfer source: HELOC advance.
Home equity line of credit.
Twenty-five thousand dollars.
Then another.
Thirty thousand.
I sank onto the bed.
My house.
My grandmother's house.
He had pulled money out of it.
But how?
My phone buzzed.
Tiana.
Any luck?
I took a picture.
Seconds later, she called.
"What am I looking at?"
"He borrowed against the house."
"Can he do that without you?"
"He shouldn't be able to."
"Then why is his name getting the money?"
I kept searching.
At the bottom of the folder, I found a photocopy.
My signature.
At least, it looked like my signature.
But the date was wrong.
I had been in Atlanta with Camille that week.
The paper showed I had signed in front of a notary.
I hadn't.
"Tiana."
"What?"
"I think he forged my name."
She went silent.
Then she whispered, "Call your lawyer friend."
I did.
Leah listened.
"Don't confront him," she said immediately.
"Why?"
"Because if he committed fraud, you need evidence before he destroys anything."
"This is my husband."
"I know."
Her voice softened.
"Which means he has access to your house, your accounts, your records, and probably your passwords. Change what you can. Quietly."
I sat on the edge of my bed staring at the framed wedding picture across from me.
Adrian was smiling.
I had loved that smile.
Now it looked like camouflage.
A door slammed downstairs.
I froze.
"Leah, he's home."
"Do not accuse him."
Footsteps moved through the hallway.
I pushed the folder beneath a blanket.
"Vanessa?"
Adrian's voice came from downstairs.
My whole body tightened.
"I'm upstairs."
I ended the call.
He entered smiling.
"Hey, baby."
I stared at him.
He leaned down to kiss my cheek.
I forced myself not to move away.
"Long day?"
"The worst."
He removed his jacket.
"Client lost his mind. Whole office was stuck late."
I knew he hadn't been at work.
Tiana had received a photo from him an hour earlier.
He'd been sitting in a sports bar.
"That sounds exhausting."
He looked at me closely.
"You okay?"
"Fine."
"You seem weird."
"So do you."
His smile faded slightly.
Then he noticed the closet door open.
"What were you looking for?"
My heart slammed.
"Caleb's school folder."
"In my closet?"
"I thought you put it away."
Adrian stared for two seconds too long.
Then he smiled again.
"You know me. I lose everything."
I almost said, Except lies.
Instead, I smiled back.
He went to shower.
I waited until I heard the water.
Then I grabbed the black folder and carried it to the laundry room.
I photographed every page.
When I reached the last document, something fell out.
A business card.
Daniel Mercer.
Private Wealth Management.
I snapped a photo.
Then I saw handwritten numbers on the back.
Three account numbers.
And one name.
Tiana Brooks.
My blood ran cold.
I called her.
She answered immediately.
"What's wrong?"
"Did Adrian ever ask for your Social Security number?"
Silence.
Then she whispered, "Yes."
"Why?"
"He said he was adding me as beneficiary to a life insurance policy."
I closed my eyes.
"Did you give it to him?"
Another silence.
"Vanessa..."
My hand tightened around the phone.
"Tiana, did you give it to him?"
"Yes."
Before I could respond, Adrian's voice came from behind me.
"Give who what?"
I turned.
He stood in the laundry-room doorway.
Wet hair.
Bare feet.
No smile.
May you like
His eyes dropped to the folder in my hand.
And for the first time in eleven years of marriage, my husband looked afraid.
