I'd wanted to confront the neighbor, but Jayden stopped me. "Why waste your time on people with no class?"
Now I thought I might finally have the answer.
I stood up and looked around the room — this room I knew so well, and yet didn't know at all.
Details I'd overlooked for years suddenly surfaced.
The smart speaker was loaded with music I'd never liked. I'd changed the settings multiple times, but it always reverted.
The bath towels were folded differently than the way I folded them.
The air conditioning was set several degrees lower than I preferred. Every time I turned it on, I had to adjust it right away.
Countless pieces of evidence proved it.
This woman didn't just have the second home my husband had given her. She'd also come to my home, countless times. Slept with my husband. Deliberately left traces behind. Like she was showing off. Like she was marking her territory. Like she was chasing the thrill.
And I, like a fool, hadn't noticed a thing.
I bit down on my lip so hard that blood seeped out before I even realized it.
I sat there, hollow, the entire night.
The next day at work, a text came through on my phone.
"Come to Mom's for dinner tonight."
"Okay."