Chapter 9
190
“I didn’t see what the woman looked like, but she was wearing a fuchsia dress and seemed to have a great figure. Dexter he couldn’t take his eyes
My head was spinning, and my breath felt searing hot, like a fire burning inside me. And then what happened? When was this?”
I was during my junior year
Clara graduated this year, so that meant Dexter’s affair started. for over a year
(year ago. Lihought, More than a year that means Dexter has been cheating
No Wait. If that photo was real. Dexter might have been lying to me from the start. How could he have only been cheating for just over a year when the kid is already that old?
It was laughable. I had been completely in the dark, thinking our life together was perfect, when in reality. I had been living a lie. What a brutal slap
to the face.
“Trouldn’t hold it in any
anymore, so I confronted him. He panicked and promised he’d end things with that woman, begging me not to tell you. He said if you found out you’d definitely divorce him. With Juno being so young, I couldn’t just watch your family fall apart.”
Clara was crying her face streaked with tears. “Sylvia, I swear I didn’t mean to keep this from you”
I nodded, my voice tight. “I understand.”
“Sylvia
“Don’t tell Dexter anything about what I just said, I told her, turning to leave. But then I quickly turned back, grabbing her wrist firmly. “Remember
WE DE SILIC
“If Dexter really has someone else, you need to be on my side. Doy
understand?” My voice was hoarse, and I locked eyes with her, holding her
Clara nodded slowly, though she seemed uncertain.
I wasn’t hungry anymore. I cleared away the meal tray and sat there, lost in thought.
Clara wasn’t a child anymore. I had laid everything out for her, and she knew what to do. Now, aside from Martha’s condition, the one thing I had to figure out was: Who is the woman Dexter is secing?
I thought. “That’s right–the hotel! Wouldn’t there still be a record of his stay at the hotel where Clara accidentally saw them?”
I quickly asked Clara for the name and address of the hotel, then grabbed my phone to search for it. Sure enough, the hotel was still around, and it was a national chain of war–rated lintels,
I didn’t have a membership with them, but I knew someone who did–Holly, I really didn’t want to ask her for help, but I had no choice. After a moment’s hesitation, I dialed her number.
When I explained what I needed, Holly agreed right away. Then she teased me, “You know, there’s no such thing as a cat that doesn’t steal fish Looks like you’re finally realizing that, huh?
I understood exactly what the theant. Holly was saying I had trusted Dexter to much, even going so far as to talk about him in the office as if he were the perfect man, a ride model for the new century.
Back then, Holly had scoffed at inr, and we had parted ways on bad terms, Hu
Hut as I looked at things now, she was right. She saw through him long
Once she sent me the membership number, I got to work immediately. As Dexter’s legal spouse, it was much easier for me to access his h record. With the membership number and our marriage license. I quickly obtained the record from over a year ago.
the information by email. My heart was pounding as I opened my inbox.
The signal in the room was poor, so I stepped into a corner outside the ward, refreshing the page over and over. My palms were sweating. Finally, the email popped up in my inbox. I shakily a lát ked on the latest one.
As the page slowly loaded, and I was about to see the name, a voice came from behind me.
“Sylvia, what are you d
doing here?
I thought, “Oh no! It is
