PART 1
I was at Denver International Airport to see off my best friend, who was flying out for a conference. Coffee in one hand, phone in the other, already thinking about what to make for dinner. Then I spotted Julian.
At first, my brain refused to accept what I was seeing. Julian wasn’t by himself. He was holding a tall brunette wearing a cream-colored coat, her fingers clutching his jacket as though they belonged there. She tilted her face toward him, and he kissed her easily, comfortably, like it was something they did all the time.
My stomach sank.
I edged closer and stopped behind a pillar beside the charging stations. My heartbeat was so loud that I imagined everyone around me could hear it. Julian’s voice broke through the sounds of suitcase wheels and boarding announcements.
“Everything’s set,” he said softly. “That idiot is about to lose everything.”
The woman laughed. “And she won’t know what’s coming.”
I swallowed painfully. I was the idiot. And “everything” didn’t sound like he was talking about ending our marriage. It sounded like money, documents, and a plan designed to wipe me out.
For one moment, I wanted to march over and slap him right there at the gate. Then I saw the leather briefcase tucked beneath his arm. The one he only brought to serious meetings. The same briefcase I had noticed on his desk the evening he persuaded me to sign some “standard paperwork” for his new company.
