Chapter 1
In the quiet of the flat, the click of the door behind me sounded louder than normal. Liam’s frantic, quiet voice echoed from the living room. I stopped in the middle of my stride, my hand lingering over the light switch. I was frozen in place by something in his tone.
“I told you I can’t do this right now, Isabel,” he replied, his annoyance piercing the silence.
I scowled. Isabel? My heartbeat accelerated. That name—an ex he had allegedly left in the past—had not been in our life for more than a year.
My heartbeat reverberated in my ears as I slipped toward the corridor, leaning into the darkness. As he talked, Liam’s figure moved over the wall, pacing.
He went on, his words full of anxiety, “You don’t realize how delicate this is. She is not a moron. If I’m careless, she’ll discover it.”
I felt a chill descend over my abdomen. She. The word stuck in my head and kept coming up like a broken record. I mean, he couldn’t mean me?
Liam softened his voice to a nearly plaintive tone and added, “Look, I’ll fix it.” “Give me some time,”
I moved closer, being cautious not to step on any creaking areas of the floor. “You know I care about you, Isabel,” he continued, and I gasped.
I held on to the wall for stability as the room whirled. Concerned about you? A hundred questions flooded my mind, each one more agonizing than the previous, and my chest constricted.
Liam ended the call by saying, “Yeah, I’ll give you a call tomorrow.” The ensuing hush was deafening.
As he turned toward the corridor, I frantically tried to gather myself. His face glowed with delight when he appeared. “You’re home early, Nora.”
I made an effort to smile, but it was more like a grimace. “The meeting concluded earlier than anticipated.”
His eyes shifted to his phone and then back to me. “How did your day go?”
“All right,” I said, my voice concealing the fury that was building inside of me. “Yours?”
He put his phone in his pocket and muttered, “Busy.” “Just finishing up a few tasks.”
Work. I swallowed the harsh response that rose in my throat, even though the untruth was nearly ludicrous. “Sounds intense,” I remarked nonchalantly.
With a little smirk, he answered, “Nothing I can’t handle.” Do you want some wine? You appear to be in need of a glass.
“Yes,” I said, already assembling the tidbits of his talk in my head. Liam vanished into the kitchen, leaving me still as I gazed at the location where his phone had vanished.
Later that evening, as Liam’s steady breathing filled the room, I lay in bed next to him and stared up at the ceiling. The warmth of his presence did nothing to calm the icy knot in my gut as my thoughts raced.
Isabel. Her name tore at my thoughts, keeping me from sleeping. His tone of dismissal when she was brought up in conversation was a far cry from the gentle, intimate manner he had talked to her.
I rolled onto my side and observed Liam’s face as it was illuminated by the dim moonlight. How many times had I put my faith in him? Had faith in the love we had created? The answers to the burning questions were hidden in a place I wasn’t sure I wanted to search.
I went through my routine automatically the following morning. Light-hearted and unconcerned, Liam buttoned his shirt and hummed gently.
He looked at me while I was sipping my coffee and remarked, “You’re quiet today.”
“Just exhausted,” I answered.
“What can I do to help?” The words seemed hollow, yet his tone was relaxed, even kind.
I forced a tiny smile and shook my head. “I’ll be all right.”
Liam kissed my forehead and then reached for his keys. I’ll see you this evening. Don’t put in too much effort.
“Same to you,” I answered, maintaining my composure in spite of the commotion below.
When the door shut behind him, I let out a trembling breath. His phone, which he had left on the counter, caught my attention. The gadget was both a lifeline and a possible weapon, and as I got closer, my heart raced.
The icy surface felt heavy in my hand when I took it up. A passcode was requested as the screen came to life. I tried his birthdate, but my fingers shook and hesitated. False. I stared at the figures and bit my lip.
This time, I tried my birthdate as a combination. The screen became unlocked. I browsed to his call log with a mixture of relief and fear. Isabel’s name at the top, her number registered several times during the previous few days, made my stomach drop.
I fumbled to lock the phone and put it back on the counter after flinching at the sound of keys jingling outside the door.
With a forgotten file in hand, Liam entered as the door swung open. He grinned as his gaze fell upon me. Holding out the folder, he continued, “I forgot this.”
As he walked across the room, I forced a neutral expression and nodded. Without a second look, he scooped up his phone and slipped it into his pocket, making my heart accelerate.
He kissed my cheek one more and murmured, “See you tonight,” before leaving.
I shakily exhaled as the door clicked shut, the weight of what I had witnessed bearing down on me.
I was distracted from my thoughts as my phone buzzed on the counter. The screen was illuminated by a text from an unidentified number:
“You have a right to hear Liam’s real story. Come see me at 7 p.m. at the cafe on Fifth.
With my heart pounding in my ears, I gazed at the message. I was paying attention to whoever sent it.
And I was about to discover just what they knew.
I had mentally reread the enigmatic paragraph a dozen times by the time Liam came back that night. You have a right to hear Liam’s real story. With the promise of answers I wasn’t sure I wanted to face, the words taunted me and stuck to me like a second skin.
As he entered the kitchen with a bottle of wine in his arm, the smell of takeout permeated the room. With that easy smile that used to reassure me, he continued, “I thought we could skip cooking tonight.”
