“Yes.”
“For where?”
“An apartment near the office.”
“You rented an apartment overnight?”
“No.”
Samantha’s eyes narrowed.
Ethan realized they had arrived at the second truth she did not know.
The apartment was not new.
Carter Risk Advisory had leased a furnished two-bedroom unit six months earlier for visiting consultants and clients.
Ethan occasionally used the second room as a quiet workspace during complicated projects.
Samantha knew the company paid for short-term lodging sometimes.
She did not know Ethan had negotiated a twelve-month lease after realizing it cost less than hotels.
The lease was in the company’s name.
The apartment was available.
It had never been a secret escape plan.
It had simply become one overnight.
“I have somewhere to stay,” Ethan said.
Samantha laughed once, but the sound held no humor.
“Of course you do.”
Ethan frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“You have been preparing to leave me.”
“No.”
“You have a lawyer, separate accounts, and an apartment.”
“I have a business account because my accountant told me to separate business income.”
“The apartment is leased by the business.”
“The lawyer happened this morning because you spent the night with Dylan.”
Ethan looked directly at her.
“You are trying to turn my ability to survive your betrayal into evidence that I caused it.”
Samantha’s face twisted.
“I am trying to understand why you are so calm.”
Ethan finally let some of the exhaustion show.
“I am calm because I already had the night you thought I would spend begging for answers.”
He pointed toward the couch.
“I sat there at twelve thirty wondering whether your location app was wrong.”
“I sat there at one fifteen telling myself Clare probably forgot to mention you were going somewhere else.”
“I sat there at two ten calling hospitals because part of me still hoped there was an innocent reason you were not answering.”
Samantha’s face softened for a moment.
Ethan kept going.
“I sat there at two fifty-three when the photo appeared.”
“I sat there at three twenty after your location left the hotel.”
“I sat there at four seventeen while Clare cried and told me what you had been saying about me.”
“I sat there at five forty while Dylan told me you reserved the room.”
“I sat there at six ten when I realized I had spent half the night trying to find a version of you that was not lying.”
Ethan swallowed.
“That version never came home.”
Samantha covered her mouth.
For the first time, her tears looked less strategic.
Ethan hated that he could still recognize the difference.
