A few days after I got back from my trip, I couldn' t let it go. The cheap keychain sat on the counter, mocking me.
I found Olivia in the living room, scrolling through her phone. Sarah was there too, sipping a coffee. I kept my voice calm.
"Olivia, I' m sorry to bring this up again, but I' m still thinking about that watch I saw on the video call. What was it really?"
Olivia didn' t even look up from her phone. "Ethan, I told you. You were seeing things. You were tired."
"I know what I saw."
Sarah put her coffee cup down with a sharp click. "For God' s sake, Ethan. Drop it. You' re upsetting her. Why are you so obsessed with this?" Her tone had a threatening edge to it. She was protecting Olivia. But it felt like more than that. It felt like she was protecting a secret.
I knew I wouldn' t get anything out of them. I grabbed my keys. "Fine. I' m going to head out. Need to pick up some things from the office."
I walked out, shut the door, and waited. I counted to thirty, then quietly put my key back in the lock and opened the door. I had "forgotten" my wallet. It was an old trick from the movies, but my gut was screaming at me to go back.
I slipped inside. The house was silent. Then I heard their voices, low and urgent, coming from the kitchen. The door was slightly ajar. I crept closer, my heart pounding against my ribs.
"He saw the watch, Sarah," Olivia whispered, her voice tight with panic. "He knows something is up. What if he finds out about Mr. Davies?"
The name hit me like a physical blow. Mr. Davies. Sarah' s boss. The CEO of her company.
Sarah' s reply was cold, devoid of any emotion. "Relax. He' s an idiot. My brother is a trusting fool, and that' s good for us. As long as Mr. Davies gets me that senior director position, you just need to keep him happy. And you just need to keep my brother in the dark."
The world tilted on its axis. The air rushed out of my lungs. It wasn't just an affair. It was a transaction. A carefully orchestrated plot. And my own sister, my blood, was the architect. She had served up my wife to her boss to climb the corporate ladder.
My wife, the woman I loved and trusted. My sister, the person I' d grown up with, the one who was supposed to have my back. They had both betrayed me in the most profound and disgusting way imaginable. The love I felt for both of them curdled into something black and toxic. The entire foundation of my life, my marriage, my family, it was all a lie.
I couldn' t breathe. I couldn' t think. I backed away from the door, silent as a ghost. My hand was shaking so hard I could barely turn the doorknob.
I got into my car and drove. I didn' t know where I was going. I just drove, the streets blurring through a haze of shock and pain.
I ended up in the parking lot of a 24-hour supermarket, the fluorescent lights humming over rows of empty cars. I sat there, staring at nothing, the engine off. My life was a ruin. And the two people who had destroyed it were waiting for me at home, probably wondering what was taking me so long to get back from the "office." What do you do when your whole world is a lie?