Chương 8
Kylie laughed once.
Isabelle flinched.
“He told me your father would pull the funding if the marriage ended before closing,” she continued. “He said you both agreed to wait.”
“And you believed that?”
“At first.”
“At first.”
“I know how it sounds.”
“It sounds like you knew later.”
Isabelle’s fingers tightened around the coat.
“I knew things didn’t match.”
“When?”
“After Maine.”
Kylie stared.
Isabelle looked at the floor.
“He said the anniversary trip was required. Then I saw a picture you posted.”
Kylie rarely posted publicly. That photograph had shown Hunter asleep in a chair beside the cottage fireplace, one hand curled against his chest.
“What about it?”
“He looked…” Isabelle stopped.
“Married?”
“Happy.”
The honesty hurt.
“What did you do?”
“I confronted him.”
“And?”
“He said he loved both of us.”
Kylie turned away.
From the kitchen came the small domestic sound of Nora placing a glass in the sink too carefully.
Isabelle continued.
“I should have left then.”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t.”
“No.”
“I was already doing the treatment.”
“That did not remove your ability to leave.”
“No.”
Kylie faced her again.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Isabelle’s mouth trembled.
“Because I was ashamed.”
“That’s not enough.”
“Because I wanted him.”
There it was.
Not confusion. Not manipulation. Want.
Isabelle drew a slow breath.
“I wanted the life he described. He said he would leave after the funding closed. He said he had built Northline for years and couldn’t let your father take it away because of timing. He said you didn’t love him anymore, that you were staying because divorce would embarrass your family.”
“You attended my birthday dinner.”
“I know.”
“You helped me choose what to wear to Maine.”
“I know.”
“You sat in my bathroom while I took a pregnancy test.”
Isabelle’s face folded, but she did not cry.
“I know.”
Kylie wanted to slap her.
The desire arrived without drama. A simple physical solution. Her palm striking Isabelle’s cheek. A sound. A mark.
She did not do it.
The pregnancy did not make Isabelle untouchable. Kylie’s own refusal did.
Instead, she asked, “Did he pay for the clinic with money from our house?”
“I thought it was from his consulting company.”
“You knew about the company?”
“He said it held his founder compensation.”
“Did you sign any documents?”
“No.”
“Did he buy a condo?”
Isabelle looked confused.
“What condo?”
“In Miami.”
“I don’t know.”
Kylie watched her closely.
This surprise appeared real.
“Did he tell you where you would live?”
“He talked about California.”
“Not Miami?”
“No.”
A new shape entered the betrayal.
Hunter had not built one alternate life. He had built options.
Isabelle lowered her coat.
“I brought something.”
She reached into her bag.
Nora appeared in the kitchen doorway immediately.
“Slowly.”
Isabelle froze, then pulled out her phone.
“There are messages,” she said. “Not screenshots. The full thread. I didn’t delete anything.”
“Why are you giving them to me?”
“Because he called me after you left last night.”
Kylie waited.
“He told me to say the baby might not be his.”
The cruelty of it was so precise that Kylie felt almost calm.
“What did you say?”
“I hung up.”
“Then?”
“He came to my apartment.”
Kylie’s stomach tightened. “You said your brother picked you up.”
“He did. Hunter came later.”
“What happened?”
“He wanted my phone. He said the board might subpoena messages.”
“Did you give it to him?”
“No.”
“Did he touch you?”
Isabelle hesitated.
Nora moved closer.
“He grabbed my bag,” Isabelle said. “My brother came out of the bedroom. Hunter left.”
“Did you call the police?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I didn’t want my name in a report.”
Nora gave a humorless laugh.
“Little late to protect your reputation.”
Isabelle accepted the blow without reacting.
“I backed up the messages,” she said. “I sent them to my attorney.”
“You have an attorney?”
“I called one this morning.”
“Good,” Kylie said. “Give everything to her.”
“I thought you should know he planned the loan before the affair.”
Kylie went still.
“What?”
Isabelle unlocked her phone and searched the conversation.
She held it out.
Kylie did not take it. Isabelle read instead.
“February fourteen, last year. He wrote: Once the Mercer commitment is announced, I can refinance everything and no one will care how I kept us alive.”
Kylie remembered that Valentine’s Day. Hunter canceled dinner because of a server outage.
“Keep reading.”
“February twenty: Kylie signs whatever sits in front of her if I make it sound boring.”
Nora swore.
Isabelle’s voice weakened.
“There are more.”
Kylie finally took the phone.
The thread stretched for months. Hunter complained about Northline, the investment process, Kylie’s father, Kylie herself. Some messages were cruel. Some were intimate. Some were mundane.
Can you pick up oat milk?
Meeting went badly.
I miss your mouth.
She asked about the house again. I changed the subject.
Kylie scrolled until the words blurred.
Then she saw a photograph Hunter had sent Isabelle.
It showed Kylie asleep on the couch in Connecticut, a blanket over her legs.
Caption: The guard dog is down.
Kylie handed back the phone.
“Leave.”
Isabelle’s eyes widened.
“I’ll send the full export to your attorney.”
“Leave.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Do not make me carry your apology too.”
Isabelle put on her coat.
At the door, she stopped.
“He did love you.”
Kylie stared at her.
Isabelle’s face twisted with the knowledge that she had chosen the worst possible words.
“I mean—”
“Go.”
After the door closed, Nora locked it and leaned against the wood.
Kylie walked to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, and stared inside.
“What are you doing?” Nora asked.
“I don’t know.”
She moved a carton of milk from one shelf to another.
Nora did not stop her.
Kylie rearranged jars until her hands steadied.
The next morning, Isabelle’s attorney delivered an encrypted copy of the message history to Mara and Northline’s independent counsel.
May you like
By afternoon, the board terminated Hunter for cause.
The company issued a short statement citing undisclosed related-party transactions, inaccurate financial reporting, and violation of corporate policy. It did not mention Kylie or Isabelle.
