Long enough.
I saw a marble dining table.
Crystal champagne glasses.
And a woman’s hand resting beside one of them.
An emerald bracelet circled her wrist.
I stopped breathing.
The bracelet had belonged to my mother.
Derek told me it disappeared during a burglary the previous year.
The screen went black.
I sat there holding my phone.
I did not confront him.
Not yet.
Instead, I packed clothes for Caleb.
Placed Walter’s card inside my purse.
And stayed awake until sunrise.
The following morning, a hired car took us toward Graystone.
Caleb sat beside me with his stuffed dinosaur pressed against the window.
“Where are we going?”
“To see a house.”
“Our house?”
I looked at him.
“I don’t know yet.”
That was the truth.
When the car finally turned onto a tree-lined road, black iron gates appeared ahead.
Beyond them stood an enormous neoclassical estate surrounded by landscaped gardens, fountains, and mature trees.
I had never seen a private home that large.
Then I looked toward the security booth.
Documents were displayed behind the glass.
Trust documentation.
Property information.
And one name.
Mine.
Allison Monroe.
My stomach turned.
Before I could step forward, the gates opened.
A black Bentley rolled out.
I almost moved aside automatically.
Then I looked through the rear window.
Derek was sitting inside.
Not in a construction uniform.
Not exhausted.
Not poor.
He wore a tailored charcoal suit.
Beside him sat a younger woman with her head resting against his shoulder.
Across from them sat his mother, Lorraine Monroe, holding a champagne glass.
The Bentley slowed.
Lorraine lowered her window.
Her eyes moved over my inexpensive coat.
Then down toward Caleb.
Her expression curled with disgust.
“Security.”
She gestured toward me.
“Remove that woman before the guests arrive.”
I stared at her.
“We are hosting an engagement celebration, not operating a shelter.”
Caleb tightened his hand around mine.
Derek finally looked directly at us.
For one desperate second, I thought he would step out.
Explain.
Apologize.
Anything.
Instead, he wrapped one arm around the younger woman.
Then told the driver to continue.
The Bentley rolled away.
Caleb watched it disappear.
“Why did Daddy leave again?”
I crouched in front of him.
My chest felt hollow.
“Because your father made some choices he’s going to have to explain.”
I still didn’t know the full truth.
I didn’t know exactly how much Derek had stolen.
Or how long he had planned it.
But I knew one thing.
The celebration was happening inside a twenty-eight-million-dollar estate held in trust for my son and me.
And Derek was apparently preparing to announce his engagement to another woman while still legally married to me.
I looked toward the gates.
Then at Walter’s card.
I didn’t yet know whether I had enough evidence to destroy the world Derek had built from my suffering.
But I knew where that world was celebrating.
