Elena's POV
I lock the bedroom door and slide down against it, my phone clutched in my shaking hands.
Adrian's downstairs. I can hear him pacing. Making calls. Probably talking to his lawyer, figuring out how to spin this. How to make me look crazy for finding his lies.
But I'm not crazy. I have proof. Mountains of it.
The question is: what do I do with it?
My fingers hover over my friends list. There's only one person who can help me now. One person who warned me seven years ago not to marry Adrian Kane.
One person I was too stupid to listen to.
Marcus Sterling.
I haven't spoken to him since my wedding day. He told me Adrian was wrong for me, that the prenup was a trap, that I was giving up too much. I called him possessive and jealous. Said terrible things I can never take back.
Then I removed his number and married Adrian anyway.
But I memorized that number. Some part of me always knew I might need it.
My thumb hovers over the numbers. It's 3:30 AM. Normal people don't call at 3:30 AM unless someone died.
Maybe someone did die. The woman I used to be is definitely dead.
I press call before I lose my nerve.
It rings once. Twice. Three times.
Maybe he changed his number. Maybe he won't answer. Maybe he hates me for— "Elena?"
His voice hits me like a wave. Familiar and steady and everything I forgot I needed.
"Marcus." My voice breaks on his name. "I'm sorry. I know it's late. I know I have no right to call after what I said, but I—"
"Where are you?" His voice is sharp now. Alert. "Are you safe?"
"I'm home. I'm locked in my bedroom. Adrian's downstairs and I—" The words tumble out faster than I can stop them. " I found everything. The emails. The bank accounts. His pregnant lover. The house he bought for her. The will that cuts me out. Seven years of lies and I just found all of it tonight and I don't know what to do—"
"Breathe, Elena." Marcus's voice cuts through my fear. "Just breathe for me."
I take a shaky breath. Then another.
"Good. Now listen carefully. Do you have proof? Physical evidence?"
"Pictures. Hundreds of them. Backed up in three places."
"Smart girl." There's pride in his voice, and it makes my eyes sting. When's the last time someone was proud of me? "Does Adrian know you have them?"
"Yes. I told him."
Marcus swears softly. "Okay. That changes things. He's going to move fast now—try to hide assets, destroy proof, build a case against you. We need to move faster."
"We?" My voice is small. "You'll help me? After everything I said?"
The quiet stretches so long I think he hung up. Then: "You were twenty-two years old and in love with a man who made you feel special. You weren't the first brilliant woman to choose the wrong guy, and you won't be the last." His voice softens. "I was angry, yes. Hurt that you didn't listen. But Elena, I never stopped caring about what happened to you."
Tears run down my face. I press my hand over my mouth to mask the sobs.
"I need you to do something for me," Marcus adds, all business now. "First thing tomorrow morning—no, scratch that. Right now. I need you to email me every single piece of proof you have. Every picture, every document, everything."
"Okay." I wipe my eyes with my sleeve. "What else?"
"Pack a bag. Essentials only. As soon as it's light out, you leave that house and you don't go back. Not for clothes, not for jewelry, nothing. Do you understand?"
"But Liam—" "Elena. " Marcus's speech is gentle but firm. "Where's Liam right now?"
"At Adrian's mother's house. Sleepover with his cousins."
"Good. That's good. Because what's about to happen is going to get ugly, and you don't want your son seeing his parents destroy each other."
The words make my stomach turn. "I don't want to destroy Adrian. I just want out."
"I know. But he's going to fight dirty because that's what guys like him do when they lose control. They worry and they lash out and they try to break you before you can break them." Marcus waits. "But here's what Adrian doesn't know: you're not the same woman he married. Are you?"
I think about tonight. Standing up to Adrian. Saying no. Feeling nothing but cold anger instead of the pressing need to fix things.
"No," I whisper. "I'm not." "Good. Because the Elena I knew seven years ago? The one who built an AI program that tech companies would kill for? That woman was a fighter. She just forgot for a while."
Fresh tears come, but these are different. Not sad. Something else.
"Come to my office at 9 AM sharp," Marcus says. "Bring your laptop and every piece of proof you have. We're going to tear Adrian Kane's life apart so thoroughly he'll wish he'd treated you better."
"Marcus? Why are you doing this? After everything—" "Because you called." His voice is rough with passion. "Because you finally asked for help. And because I've been waiting seven years for you to remember who you really are."
The line goes dead.
I sit there in the darkness, phone pressed to my chest, feeling something I haven't felt in forever: hope.
Then my phone buzzes with a text.
Unknown number: Mrs. Kane, you don't know me, but I know your husband very well. If you want to destroy him totally, meet me tomorrow at Coffee Haven, 7 AM. Come alone. I have information that will change everything. Information even Marcus Sterling doesn't know. -V
My blood runs cold.
V. Vivian.
Adrian's pregnant lover wants to meet me.
Every sense screams that it's a trap. That she'll record me saying something awful or push me into doing something stupid that Adrian can use against me in court.
But what if she's telling the truth? What if she has information I need?
Another text comes through: I know you think I'm the enemy. But Adrian's been lying to both of us. I have proof he's going to betray me too—just like he betrayed you. We can help each other. Or we can both lose everything. Your pick.
My hands shake as I stare at the message.
This could be the stupidest choice of my life. Meeting the woman who broke my marriage. The woman carrying my husband's baby.
But what if it's not? What if Vivian knows something that could sink Adrian for good?
I type back before I can change my mind: I'll be there.
Her reaction is immediate: Come alone. If you bring anyone, I walk away and you'll never know the truth about what your husband really is.
I lock my phone and close my eyes.
In six hours, I'm meeting Marcus Sterling—the man who can save me.
In three hours, I'm meeting Vivian Winters—the woman who destroyed me.
And somewhere between those two talks, I have to figure out who I can actually trust.
Because I'm starting to understand that everyone in my life has been lying.
The question is: who's been lying the most?