“I wore the green dress because Dylan once told me green was his favorite color on me when we were young.”
Ethan’s stomach turned.
The dress had not been incidental.
Even the dress had history inside it.
Samantha began crying again.
“I knew what I was doing before I left the house.”
Ethan leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees.
He looked down at the floor.
There was no longer any useful way to call it a mistake.
A mistake could be one wrong turn.
Samantha had built a road.
“Thank you for finally saying that,” he said.
Samantha cried quietly.
“I wish I could take it back.”
“I believe you.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
“Does that matter?”
Ethan considered the question.
“Not enough today.”
She inhaled shakily.
“Will you talk to me tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
The answer surprised both of them.
Ethan added a boundary immediately.
“By phone.”
“Okay.”
“And I want copies of every document related to Northline.”
“I will send them.”
“Do not delete messages with Dylan.”
“I will not.”
“Do not move money.”
“I will not.”
“If you need normal household expenses, use the joint checking account as usual.”
Samantha’s voice cracked.
“You sound like a stranger.”
Ethan looked around the empty apartment.
“I feel like one.”
They ended the call.
For several minutes, Ethan remained on the sofa with the phone in his hand.
Then an email arrived.
The sender was Dylan Mercer.
The subject line read: NORTHLINE DOCUMENTS.
Ethan almost deleted it.
Instead, he forwarded it unopened to Laura.
Her reply came five minutes later.
Do not engage directly.
I will review.
Ethan set the phone down.
He stood and opened the apartment window a few inches.
Cool air moved into the room.
Down on the sidewalk, a couple walked past holding hands.
Ethan watched them until they disappeared around the corner.
That evening, he finally removed his wedding ring from his pocket.
He placed it on the nightstand.
He did not throw it away.
He did not put it back on.
He simply left it where he could see it.
The next morning, Ethan woke before six.
His body had slept, but his mind had not rested.
He made coffee and opened his laptop.
Laura had sent a message at five forty-eight.
Call me when awake.
Ethan called immediately.
Laura answered with the focused tone of someone who had already been working for hours.
“I reviewed the Northline documents.”
“What did you find?”
“There is an investment agreement signed by Samantha and Dylan.”
“I expected that.”
“There is also an email chain in the packet Dylan voluntarily forwarded.”
