But as the initial pain subsided, it was replaced by something else. A cold, calculating rage.
Ethan had underestimated his wife. Yes, she was a doctor, not a lawyer, but she was intelligent, observant, and had an excellent memory. And above all, she had something Ethan lacked, a conscience and principles.
The red folder in the office, Emily repeated it in her mind. She had a second key to the office at home. Ethan had given it to her for emergencies. It seemed the emergency had arrived.
Emily managed a faint smile for the first time in half an hour. Ethan wanted to play a game. Fine. But he had forgotten that in any game there can only be one winner, and Emily Hayes had no intention of losing.
She took out her phone and dialed the number of Mrs. Davis, her son’s caregiver. “Mrs. Davis, it is Emily. Could you watch Noah tonight? Something urgent has come up that I need to attend to.”
“Yes, very urgent business.”
It was time to find out what that red folder contained.
When Emily got home, four-year-old Noah greeted her at the door with a drawing of mommy and daddy holding hands with a little person next to them.
“Mommy, look. It is us, the family,” the boy said proudly.
Emily knelt and hugged her son. How would she explain to him that there was no family anymore, that his father had chosen another woman and was ready to take everything from them?
“It is beautiful, sweetie.” She kissed Noah on the head.
“Where is daddy?”
“He said he would bring me a toy from his business trip to far away Miami.”
Emily thought bitterly. What would he bring, Pamela? A ring? A bracelet? Or perhaps he had already given her a ticket to a new life?
Mrs. Davis, the elderly caregiver who had helped raise Noah since he was born, looked at Emily carefully. “Honey, you are very pale. Is something wrong?”
“It is nothing. I am just tired,” Emily lied. “Mrs. Davis, I need to go to Ethan’s office. It is urgent. Could you stay with Noah until tomorrow?”
“Of course. But what is so urgent that it can’t wait until he gets back?”
“It really can’t, Mrs. Davis.”
Emily gave her son dinner, put him to bed, and read him a story about a good wizard who defeated evil witches. Noah fell asleep with a smile on his face. If only everything were as easy as in fairy tales, she thought.