Chapter 2 - Miami on PaperAdam left for Miami the following Monday.
At least, that was what he told Dakota.
He packed two suits, three shirts, swimming trunks, and the expensive watch Dakota had given him for their fifth anniversary.
His flight was scheduled for 8:40 a.m.
Dakota had an afternoon route to Seattle, so she offered to drive him to the airport.
Adam refused immediately.
“The company sent a car.”
“No problem. I can still ride with you.”
“You’ll be late.”
“My sign-in isn’t until noon.”
He zipped his suitcase harder than necessary.
“Dakota, I don’t need you managing every detail of my life.”
She stepped back.
“I was only offering.”
Adam’s expression softened when he saw the hurt on her face.
He kissed her cheek.
“I’m stressed. I’m sorry.”
A black car collected him at seven.
At 8:52, Dakota received a photograph.
Adam stood beside a large window overlooking a runway, holding a cup of coffee.
Made it. Boarding now. Love you.
Dakota studied the image.
There were no visible gate numbers. No city names. No airline logo.
Just Adam, a window, and a plane in the distance.
She replied with a heart.
Then she opened the crew scheduling application on her phone.
Because of her position, Dakota could view departure information for every major flight leaving their airport that morning.
There had been no direct 8:40 flight to Miami.
There was one at 6:15 and another at 11:30.
Dakota searched connecting routes.
Nothing matched.
For several minutes, she tried to create an explanation for him. Perhaps the company had booked a private flight. Perhaps the schedule had changed. Perhaps he had given her the wrong time by accident.
Then a banking notification appeared.
Their joint credit card had been used at a luxury hotel in Denver.
The charge was for $1,842.
Dakota’s pulse quickened.
She called Adam.
He rejected the call.
A message appeared seconds later.
Going into a meeting. Call tonight.
Dakota sat at the kitchen table and looked again at the hotel charge.
She had never searched Adam’s belongings. She had never read his private messages. During nearly a decade of marriage, she had believed that love without privacy became surveillance.
But privacy was not the same as secrecy.
Dakota opened the cabinet where they kept household documents.
Tax records.
Insurance papers.
Mortgage statements.
A folder containing Adam’s company travel reimbursements sat beneath a stack of old utility bills.
Dakota did not know why it was there.
She removed it.
Inside were printed itineraries for trips to Miami, Chicago, Dallas, and Boston. Each trip had supposedly been taken for company business.
Several dates looked familiar.
Dakota checked the credit card history.
On the same weekends Adam claimed he had been in Miami, charges appeared in Denver.
Restaurants.
Jewelry stores.
A private prenatal clinic.
Dakota stared at that last charge until the words blurred.
The clinic appointment had taken place twelve days earlier.
Adam had told her he was attending a leadership conference in Chicago.
She closed the folder and pressed both hands against the table.
There were explanations she could no longer invent.
Adam was not simply lying about meetings.
He was living another life.
Dakota’s first instinct was to call him and demand the truth.
Her second instinct was stronger.
She photographed every document.
Then she returned the folder exactly as she had found it.
That evening, Adam called from his hotel.
Behind him was a gray wall and a modern lamp.
“How’s Miami?” Dakota asked.
“Humid.”
“Can you see the ocean?”
“Not from this room.”
“What hotel are you staying at?”
Adam smiled, but his eyes sharpened.
“Why?”
“I thought I might send you something.”
“I’m switching hotels tomorrow. The company booked the wrong one.”
Dakota looked at the Denver charge displayed on her laptop.
“Of course,” she said. “That makes sense.”
May you like
For the first time, lying to Adam did not make her feel guilty.
It made her feel awake.
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