Four days, just the two of them." The room tilted slightly. Julian had told me that morning. Before he left for work, still warm from sleep, kissing my forehead. 'I'll miss you every second, baby.' Those were his exact words. "Come with me tomorrow evening," Dominic said. "If I'm wrong, you'll know. And if I'm right..." He didn't finish the sentence. He didn't need to. I didn't remember agreeing. But somehow I nodded. And somehow, I drove myself home. - I don't know how I managed it. The whole drive back, my chest felt like something was sitting on it. Heavy and immovable.

I kept telling myself it wasn't real. The video was fabricated. Dominic was jealous of what Julian and I had. People did crazy things out of jealousy. Julian loves me. When he came home that evening, flowers in hand, eyes soft and warm the way they always were when he looked at me, something in my chest cracked. See? Look at him. This man is not cheating on you. He kissed me slow and deep in the kitchen and I kissed him back just as hard, searching for something. A lie. A tell. Anything that would make Dominic's words make sense. I found nothing.

He asked about my day and I lied through my teeth, smiling up at him like my world hadn't shifted on its axis that afternoon. That night, I tried again. I pressed myself against him in bed, my fingers trailing across his chest, and he caught my hand gently. "Baby." His voice sounded soft, exhausted and genuine. "I'm so tired. The moment this contract is done, every single night is yours. I promise." "Okay," I whispered. "I love you so much, baby." "I know." I replied. He kissed my forehead and rolled over.

I lay in the dark and listened to him breathe and wondered how a man could lie so beautifully. Maybe he wasn't lying. Maybe Dominic was. I held onto that thought like a lifeline and waited for morning. - Julian kissed my cheek in the morning, while I pretended to sleep. "I'll miss you every second. I love you." I kept my eyes closed until the front door clicked shut behind him. I didn't move until noon.

CELESTE Dominic picked me up at five. We didn't talk much in the car. What was there to say? We were either about to prove he was wrong, or we were about to have our entire lives rearranged. Rosewood Resort sat at the edge of the city, all glass and warm light and the kind of quiet money that didn't need to announce itself. According to Dominic's words, Julian had rented the entire East wing and so it wasn't open to other people. But Dominic had already arranged everything.

Two employees met us at the back entrance and for a folded stack of bills, led us through a service corridor and out into the resort's private garden in the East wing. The sky had been rumbling for the past hour. Dark clouds rolling in fast. I could smell the rain coming. "We have to be quick," Dominic said quietly. We moved along the tree line and I told myself for the hundredth time that we were going to find nothing. An empty garden. A misunderstanding. Something I could take home and hold up like proof that I hadn't been a fool. Then I saw him. Julian.

My husband stood between two palm trees in the resort garden, dressed casually in a way I had never seen him dress for a business trip. Linen shirt, sleeves rolled up, a drink in one hand. And Sera tucked under his other arm like she belonged there. They were laughing. Laughing like the world was a beautiful private joke that only the two of them understood. I stopped walking. I couldn't feel my legs. No. My mind was screaming it. No, no, no. Dominic stopped beside me. But I felt him look at me, just once, quickly, the way you look at someone when you think they can't see you.

Like he was checking if I was still standing. I was. Barely. My hands were shaking when I pulled out my phone and called Julian's number. Across the garden, Julian glanced at his screen. He said something to Sera. I saw her roll her eyes. Then he answered. "Baby." His voice was warm. Happy. Completely normal. "I was just thinking about you. I miss you so much already." My throat had closed, but I forced the words out. "Where are you right now?" "At my desk." He lied so easily and effortlessly. "Swamped with work but I can't stop thinking about you. Did you sleep okay?