“We were friends.”
Hannah opened her laptop with her good hand.
A folder sat on the desktop.
Inside were six months of bank statements, calendar notes, and restaurant charges from the same location every Thursday.
She had begun saving them after Tyler first insisted the meetings were occasional.
The charges were never occasional.
Neither were the lies.
“You spent our money at that table twenty-three times,” Hannah said.
“You missed my appointments, my birthday dinner with your family, and last night’s award ceremony.
Every time, Charlotte needed something.”
Tyler stared at the screen.
“You’ve been spying on me?”
“I read our joint bank statements.”
“That doesn’t prove an affair.”
“No,” Hannah said.
“Your choices prove the marriage is over.”
His phone buzzed on the table.
Charlotte’s name appeared.
Tyler reached for it, but Hannah was closer.
She did not touch the phone.
She only watched the preview appear.
I sent Hannah the messages.
Do not contact me again.
Tyler snatched the phone away.
“What messages?” Hannah asked.
“Nothing.”
Her own phone vibrated inside her purse.
Charlotte had sent screenshots.
There were dozens.
Tyler telling her Hannah no longer loved him.
Tyler saying they lived separate lives.
Tyler promising that once the timing was right, he and Charlotte would stop hiding.
One message had been sent from Hannah’s kitchen while she was cooking his breakfast.
Another had been sent during the pharmacy dinner Tyler claimed he would try to attend.
Charlotte included a voice message.
“I knew he was married,” she said, her voice trembling.
“I’m not pretending I did nothing wrong.
But he told me you had already agreed to separate.
He said you only stayed in the house for convenience.
I should have asked you.
I’m sorry.
I will give your lawyer anything you need.”
Tyler began pacing.
“She’s trying to protect herself.”
“So are you.”
“You’re ending eight years over one bad night.”
Hannah closed the laptop.
“No.
I’m ending it over the six months inside that folder.
Last night only made the truth impossible to excuse.”
Tyler looked toward Officer Morrison.
“You had no right to humiliate me in public.”
Janet’s expression did not change.
“I entered that restaurant while investigating a hit-and-run.
Your humiliation came from the answers you gave.”
For once, Tyler had no reply.
