“You came home after the middle was already over.”
He waited until she moved.
Then he carried the box upstairs.
The bedroom looked exactly the same as it had the previous evening.
Samantha’s side of the bed was made neatly.
A book rested on her nightstand.
Her perfume bottle sat near the lamp.
Ethan’s watch tray sat on the dresser.
The normality of the room made him feel briefly dizzy.
He set the box down.
He opened a suitcase.
For several minutes, he packed without thinking.
Shirts.
Jeans.
Socks.
A second pair of shoes.
Toiletries.
His laptop charger.
A framed photograph from his father’s retirement dinner.
He stopped when he reached the closet shelf where Samantha kept a small white box containing old letters.
He knew Dylan’s name was probably inside that box.
Years earlier, Samantha had told him she kept a few letters from high school and college because they belonged to a part of her life she did not want to erase.
Ethan had never been threatened by that.
He believed loving someone meant accepting that they had existed before you.
He still believed that.
What he no longer believed was that history deserved access to the present without boundaries.
His phone vibrated again.
Laura called this time.
Ethan answered.
“Hi.”
“Can you speak privately?” Laura asked.
“Yes.”
He closed the bedroom door.
Laura’s voice became more serious.
“I reviewed the statements you sent.”
“Okay.”
“The three transfers you highlighted are not the only unusual ones.”
Ethan sat on the edge of the bed.
“What did I miss?”
“There are six smaller transfers routed through the same payment processor.”
“How much?”
“About four thousand six hundred dollars total.”
Ethan felt his stomach tighten.
“That makes almost twelve thousand.”
“Yes.”
“Do we know where it went?”
“Not yet.”
Ethan looked toward the closed door.
Laura continued.
“I also noticed a credit inquiry from August attached to the mortgage monitoring report you sent.”
Ethan frowned.
“What inquiry?”
“It looks like someone explored a home equity line.”
“I did not apply for one.”
“That is why I am calling.”
Ethan stood.
“Was anything opened?”
“I cannot tell from what you sent.”
“You need to contact the lender and ask.”
“Do not accuse Samantha yet.”
“I understand.”
“Get facts first.”
“Okay.”
“And Ethan.”
“Yes?”
“If she has access to shared funds, do not empty accounts or move marital assets without advice.”
“I would not.”
“I know.”
“I am saying it because people do impulsive things after nights like yours.”
Ethan looked at the half-packed suitcase.
“I am too tired to be impulsive.”
