Chapter 7 - The Message That Changed Everything
She called Mr. Sterling immediately.
He photographed the envelope before touching it.
Daniel collected it the next morning.
"Do not assume Mark sent this," he warned.
"Who else would?"
"Someone who benefits from making you believe he did."
She understood.
"Chloe."
"Possibly."
That afternoon, Daniel requested security footage from the apartment building.
The person who delivered the envelope had hidden beneath a baseball cap.
But the parking camera captured the vehicle.
It was registered to a woman named Vanessa Cole.
Daniel recognized the name.
Vanessa was one of Chloe's longtime friends.
Mr. Sterling smiled when he heard.
"Good."
She stared at him.
"Someone threatened me."
"And they were careless."
He leaned forward.
"Careless opponents are useful."
The legal response was immediate.
Mr. Sterling notified Mark's attorney.
He requested sanctions.
He warned that any continued harassment would be presented during the custody hearing.
Mark called within minutes.
"I didn't send anything."
She remained silent.
"I swear."
"Then ask Chloe."
"Why would Chloe care about Ethan?"
She almost answered.
Instead, she said, "Ask her."
That evening, Mark confronted Chloe.
At first she denied knowing Vanessa had gone to the apartment.
Then she claimed Vanessa had acted independently.
Then she blamed Leo's mother.
"She's manipulating you."
Mark stared at her.
"How would she manipulate Vanessa into delivering a threat?"
Chloe folded her arms.
"You always defend her."
"She's being threatened."
"She's trying to destroy our family."
Mark laughed bitterly.
"Our family?"
Chloe placed both hands over her stomach.
"This family."
Mark's gaze dropped.
Something about the scene disturbed him.
Maybe it was the timing.
Maybe it was Chloe's sudden desperation.
Maybe it was the fact that every time he questioned her, she touched her stomach like a shield.
He asked the question that had been sitting in his mind for weeks.
"When exactly did you get pregnant?"
Chloe blinked.
"What?"
"How many weeks?"
"You know how many."
"Tell me."
Her face went pale.
"Why?"
Mark stepped closer.
"Tell me."
She gave him a number.
He mentally counted backward.
For a moment, everything seemed normal.
Then he remembered something.
The business conference.
The week Chloe claimed she had conceived.
Mark had been in Seattle.
Alone.
For six days.
He looked at her.
Chloe realized what he was calculating.
"Pregnancy dates aren't exact."
Mark's breathing changed.
"Whose child is it?"
She slapped him.
The sound echoed through the kitchen.
Neither of them moved.
Then Chloe whispered, "How dare you."
May you like
Mark touched his cheek.
For the first time since the affair began, he was afraid of the woman he had chosen.
