Chapter 7

Hannah did not leave immediately.

She remained outside until noon, then sent message after message from my front door.

She claimed that she had deleted every way of contacting Josh.

She promised that she would make up for all the years she had kept me hidden.

She said she would beg every one of my friends and relatives for forgiveness if that was what it took to earn mine.

I did not reply to a single message.

That afternoon, Dirk called me again.

This time, he no longer sounded as self-righteous as he had the day before. Instead, there was a weary note in his voice.

“Eric, do you really have to take this so far?”

I sat by the window, holding the mug of tea Mom had brought me. “What have I done?”

“Hannah flew back overnight because of you, and Josh is falling apart. He had no idea you and Hannah were still together. He’s a victim too.”

“So?”

There was a brief silence on the other end.

I continued, “Am I supposed to comfort him, give them my blessing, and tell him Hannah is his?”

Dirk lowered his voice. “That’s not what I mean. I just think that, now things have gone this far, someone has to back down.”

I scoffed.

“Why does that someone have to be me?”

Dirk had no answer.

I suddenly remembered the first time Hannah and I had fought, many years ago. Dirk had sat beside me near the school track that night.

That night, he had angrily condemned Hannah and promised that if she ever wronged me, he would never let her get away with it.

Through my tears, I had smiled and said, “Dirk, promise me you’ll always be on my side.”

“Of course,” he had replied.

Though it turned out that some promises only held as long as loyalties and affections remained

unchanged

“Dirk I once considered you my best friend.”

His breathing faltered noticeably.

“Eric, I kept it from you because I do see you as a friend. I was worried you wouldn’t be able to handle the

truth.”

“You weren’t worried I couldn’t handle it.” I cut him off. “You were worried that once I knew, Josh and Hannah wouldn’t be able to keep up their act.”

As if I had struck a nerve, Dirk’s voice rose sharply. “So what are you trying to do? Expose Hannah for two -timing you, humiliate Josh in front of everyone, and drag me through the mud too?”

I looked out at the drizzling rain and felt the last remaining warmth inside me turn cold.

So he did understand how humiliating the truth would be once it came out.

He had simply never considered how humiliating it had been for me to spend three years being kept in

the dark.

“Whether any of you are humiliated is no longer my concern,” I said.

After ending the call, I went through my phone and began sorting every financial record connected to

Hannah.

Half the money in our joint account had come from my salary and bonuses.

The jewelry she bought Josh, the hotel reservations, and the anniversary party had all been paid for, at least in part, from that account.

I had never questioned the expenses before because I believed they were part of the life we were building together.

Only now did I realize that she had used my hard-earned money to create romantic memories with

another man.

I saved screenshots of the statements, then gathered the video I had recorded at the hotel, the audio of her admitting to the simultaneous relationships, and screenshots of all her social media posts.

By the time I finished, night had fallen.

Hannah finally called me.

I answered.

The first thing she said was not an apology, but a demand for answers. “Eric, what do you think you are doing, going through all our financial records?”

I could hear voices in the background, probably her friends.

She lowered her voice. “We were together for seven years, and now you want to start keeping track of every penny?”

“Yes.”

She gave a disbelieving snort. “You were never like this before.”

I lowered my eyes.

She was right. I had not been like this before.

I had loved her then, so I had never kept score.

Though she had no right to assume that just because I had never held anything against her, I would let her get away with anything forever.

“Hannah, tomorrow at 10 a.m., I’ll send you everything that needs to be settled.”

The other end of the line went completely silent.

When she finally spoke again, there was a tremor in her voice.

“Eric, do you really want to ruin me?”

I tightened my grip on the phone and replied softly, “I’m not ruining you. You did this to yourself.”