The tension in the room seemed to tighten by the second.
“So I called the hotel,” I continued. “They couldn’t tell me much because of privacy rules. Fair enough. But then I found something else.”
I reached into the folder beside me.
Claire had gone pale.
Mark’s voice dropped.
“Stop.”
For the first time that evening, he wasn’t shouting.
I met his gaze.
“No.”
I placed another document on the table.
“A parking charge.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“At the same hotel?”
“The same hotel. The same day.”
Mark let out a frustrated breath.
“Congratulations. You discovered that I met Claire for coffee.”
Claire turned toward him.
“Coffee?”
That one word shifted everything.
Mark looked at her.
Claire narrowed her eyes.
“You told me you booked the room because you wanted somewhere private for us to talk.”
Elaine whispered, “Oh my God.”
Mark snapped toward Claire.
“Could you not?”
I nearly smiled.
NEXT PAGE
There it was.
The first fracture in the united front I had imagined for weeks.
Every time I pictured confronting them, I imagined Mark and Claire standing together.
Confident.
Calm.
Almost smug.
I imagined Claire defending him.
I imagined him defending her.
I imagined both of them making me question whether I had misunderstood everything.
But I had underestimated Mark.
His loyalty wasn’t to Claire.
It certainly wasn’t to me.
Mark was loyal only
to Mark.
Claire looked at me.
“What exactly is all of this supposed to prove?”
“The answer to a question.”
“What question?”
“Whether I’m insecure.”
