Chapter 4

The next day, I called a private investigator.

A discreet man with tired eyes, recommended by an old business contact.

I told him I suspected my husband was having an affair.

I didn' t mention the murder plot, not yet.

"I need confirmation, and details about the other woman," I said, handing him a cash retainer.

He nodded. "I' ll be in touch."

While I waited, I lived a lie.

I was the loving wife, discussing the upcoming road trip with feigned excitement.

Mark was attentive, almost overly so, his guilt manifesting as affection.

It was sickening.

The PI called back within three days.

"It' s confirmed, Mrs. Miller," he said, his voice flat. "Your husband is involved with a Ms. Jessica Evans. They meet regularly at a small apartment she rents downtown."

He paused. "There' s more. Ms. Evans has a child, a baby boy. About three months old."

My heart ached, a dull throb, despite everything.

A baby. Mark' s baby, he thought.

The PI emailed me photos.

Mark, cooing over the infant. Jessica, beaming at him.

They looked like a happy family.

A family built on my impending death.

That evening, I "accidentally" left my phone recording in the living room when Mark took a call from Jessica.

I pretended to be busy in the garden, my hands deep in the soil, trying to ground myself.

Later, listening back, their voices were clear.

Jessica: "Is everything set for Saturday? The riverside spot?"

Mark: "Perfect. No one will suspect a thing. Brake failure, she loses control. Tragic."

Jessica: "And the insurance? All signed?"

Mark: "Signed, sealed, delivered. Soon, my love. Soon we' ll have everything."

Then Karen' s voice, surprisingly sharp, in the background on Jessica' s end.

Karen: "Make sure there are no mistakes, Mark. This needs to be clean. For your sake, and for the baby' s."

My breath hitched.

Karen wasn' t just aware, she was actively involved.

Supporting her son' s plan to murder his wife.

The investigator' s report, the recording, it was all there.

The complete, ugly picture of their betrayal.

There was no doubt left, no room for hesitation.

The road trip was in two days.

My final performance as Sarah Miller was about to begin.

And my first, as someone else, was fast approaching.