Chapter 2

It took me longer than expected to narrow it down because I didn't want to use my name to ask questions. I didn't want anyone even suspecting that I was onto this. You might be asking yourself why I'm so good at this, how I knew to stay calm in the face of such despair.

Well, I grew up in a broken home. Although my parents never divorced, our home was as broken as any that endured such a catastrophe. My father was never faithful to my mother, not for as long as I was old enough to know.

By the time I was eight I knew what it meant when Mom cried herself to sleep some nights. By twelve, I understood the bitterness in her eyes, the slamming doors, the screams, and the empty bottles of expensive booze.

I spent my tweens and teens vacillating between wanting them to go their separate ways and desperately wanting them to work it out. I didn't understand how he could be so good to me while making her life a living hell.

There was a time there, before I met Mark, in fact, when I thought I would never trust my heart to anyone, never be as weak as my mother was. I used to imagine all the ways in which I would react if I ever found myself faced with the same horror, but I don't think I expected this one, maybe because I never thought I would be here.

Once I figured out who she was, I left and went to the library. I hadn't been to the library since the kids were in middle school, I don't think. I spent a few hours on the internet looking up information before going to the ATM to withdraw some cash.

My next stop was the bookstore or the first of many. I bought books on one subject at one and bought books on an entirely different subject at another. Next, I bought leather book covers for each of them before heading back to the house.

I spent hours reading and taking notes in the new journal I'd picked up. I didn't want to leave a digital trail of any kind, so everything was taking longer. He called me twice that day, something that hadn't happened since the early days of our marriage. I was most likely to be the one calling him throughout the day.

These calls were completely different from the norm. It was as if he'd carved out time specifically for me because there was no rush and no interruptions. We didn't talk about anything heavy; it seemed more like he just wanted to hear my voice.

We teased and flirted each other; I even giggled a time or two. And when he called less than three hours later, I knew that I had made the right choice.

That night, I gave the staff the rest of the evening off and spent a few hours in the kitchen cooking his favorite meal myself. I took care with my hair and makeup and chose something short and black for dinner. The table was set with candles and the flowers he'd sent me after his first call.

A large bouquet of all of my favorites with a heartfelt note of thanks for last night that I had stashed away upstairs. It had been years since I met my husband at the door. Years since, he wrapped his arms around me right there and kissed me.

Though we didn't have close neighbors, there was always a hint of excitement when he did things like this out in the open. "Umm, you smell amazing." He had his face buried in my neck as he wrapped his arms around me and kicked the door closed behind him.

"Thank you." I wrapped my arms around him, one around his shoulders and the other holding his head in place as he walked me backward inside before turning to press me back against the wall.

"You said you gave them the night off, right? We're alone?"

"Yes!" His big hands pushed the skirt of my dress up around my hips, exposing the fact that I was naked under it. I almost came immediately when he cupped my heat, and my limbs trembled when the backs of his fingers rubbed against my inflamed flesh as he struggled with his zipper.

He was big and hard and rough when he slammed into me, and I screamed out at the sweet pleasure pain. I didn't care that the wall was cold at my back or that the leather of his belt chafed against my skin as he pounded into me.

I reveled in his roughness, in the way he growled at my air as I tightened my flesh around him. We were both out of control, tearing at each other's clothes and flesh with nails and teeth, and I came hard and fast when he bit into the flesh of my neck.

I did a lap of victory in my head when he came and cursed because it was way before he was ready. I know he does that when he's overly excited. When was the last time I did that to him? It was too long to remember.

We sat down to dinner an hour later, ravenous, sweaty, and happy, and when he pulled me over to him, lifted me onto the table in front of him, and said, "Time for dessert," I pushed the dishes away from behind me and laid back, letting my legs fall open to his eyes and his tongue.

"Oh, that's so good." I played my fingers through his hair as he ate me out, his teeth ever so often scraping along my clit. When he'd brought me off twice in his mouth, he got to his feet and drove into me. I smiled up at him and wrapped my legs around his hips, pulling him deeper into me.

* * *

Alas,life is not all sex and laughs; the real world has its time and place. For the next few weeks, things carried on pretty much the same way. I was gathering more and more information, not only on Jessica, which was her name but on her family and friends.

I had the social media handles for all those closest to her. I knew her school record, her place at my husband's company, and her sexual history, down to her last partner before she moved to town. In short, I had at my fingertips anything and everything there was to know about her.

My husband Mark never had a clue about any of this. I had taken the time to let the staff go back to their quarters on the other side of the property earlier so that he and I could play house. We had sex in every room except the kids' rooms. Drank wine almost every night and fucked like bunnies until the wee hours of the morning.

If there was one thing I knew, it was that he hadn't had the time or the energy to be with anyone else. Unless he was using five minutes of his lunch break to fuck her, which was too bad for her. Because I was getting hours and hours of loving.

It wasn't just the sex either. It's the way he leans over in the morning to nuzzle me awake before kissing me goodbye. Yesterday I had even talked him out of his clothes and let him fuck me with his shoes on in my bed before getting dressed with my scent on him when we were done and hurrying out the door.

It"s the out-of-the-blue phone calls for no reason, just to sit on the phone and listen to each other breathe. And it's the way we sit in our playroom at night, close to each other on the couch as we watch some show or the other before we end up screwing each other's brains out before the thing gets halfway.

I've woken up in his arms every morning since that first night, whether I had fallen asleep that way or not. That was all lovely and good, but now that I had made my choice, it was time to make sure no one took it away from me.

Getting into her apartment was easy. For one, we have the master key to all our buildings, and for another, I know the protocol. All it took was a maintenance uniform, some shades, and the most ridiculous wig and mustache. I'm pretty sure that was a Halloween store I went into a few weeks ago.

Once I let myself into the building, I used my new little gadget to check the apartment for hidden cameras, of which there were none. I didn't stay too long this first time because I knew why I was here and what I came to do.

I slipped out the back just the way I'd entered, with no one the wiser. The hallway cameras would see a rather short man in a maintenance uniform who wouldn't look at all out of place since I'd sent in a ticket under her name.

I had timed everything perfectly as I was aware that she had a big presentation coming up the next day. You see, I had found a way to keep tabs on what was going on in the business, which was my right as one of the major shareholders, which was owned entirely by our families.

I learned a lot and studied her in every way possible in the last few weeks, and now my time in her apartment had given me more of what I needed. I had become very knowledgeable in lots of things during that time, thanks to the books I had bought and the notes I had diligently kept.

It"s amazing what you can learn by following someone's social media accounts. Why people insist on broadcasting their every move is beyond me, but I guess I shouldn't complain since it has come in very handy for me.

It was taking everything in me not to show up at his office every day, I wanted to see this person up close and personal. But I was afraid that I would give myself away if we ever came face to face. So far, no one suspects a thing, and I would like to keep it that way for a little bit longer.

After getting back to the house, I locked myself away in my home office and got to work. I read off the numbers I needed and input them into the new phone, following the instructions in the manual.

Next, I went into my device and linked it with my husband's, something I didn't know I had the option of doing until now. I had to wait for later that night while he was asleep, knocked out from another round of manic sex, to take his phone and iPad into my office with me.

Once again, I followed all the instructions, but this time I was cloning, but adding spyware, undetectable at that. I followed the instructions on how to retrieve deleted messages and sent everything to my new phone.

By the time I slid into bed beside him, I had done everything I needed to set my plans in motion. I laid awake most of the night tempted to check the new burner phone that I had used to clone hers.

I was thinking that since my husband never leaves my side in the evening and his phone is always there beside us with mine, he must have another one that they use to communicate. That thought was further compounded when I didn't find any messages at all between the two of them.