Chapter 5 - The Paper Morgan Signed at the CabinPierce called the unknown number.
No answer.
He texted.
Who is this?
Nothing.
He enlarged the photograph.
Morgan wore the cream sweater Pierce remembered from their Chicago video call.
Sierra had one arm around her waist.
Behind them, Ava crouched near the edge of a wooden dock with a bright yellow life jacket.
The photograph had been taken from a distance.
Someone else had been at the cabin.
Or nearby.
Pierce saved it.
Then he drove back inside the neighborhood instead of leaving.
Morgan opened the door when he knocked.
“You forgot something?”
He showed her the photograph.
Every trace of color disappeared from her face.
“Where did you get that?”
“Who took it?”
“I don’t know.”
“You were there.”
“Yes.”
“Who else was there?”
“Nobody.”
“Then who took the photograph?”
Morgan stared at the screen.
“I genuinely don’t know.”
Pierce believed that part.
“Someone told me to ask what you signed at the cabin.”
Morgan’s eyes changed.
Pierce saw it.
“What did you sign?”
She stepped back.
“This is getting insane.”
“What did you sign?”
“A lease application.”
Pierce froze.
“For what?”
Morgan looked away.
“An apartment.”
“With Sierra?”
“Yes.”
There it was.
Not someday.
Not fantasy.
Paperwork.
“Where?”
“White Plains.”
Twenty minutes from their house.
Close enough to Ava’s future school.
“How far did the application go?”
“We were approved.”
Pierce felt sick.
“When were you moving?”
“We hadn’t decided.”
“After summer?”
Morgan nodded.
“Was Ava on the application?”
“No.”
“Did you list yourself as married?”
She hesitated.
“Morgan.”
“Yes.”
“Did you tell the landlord you were separating?”
“Yes.”
“Were we separated?”
“No.”
Pierce stared at her.
“You built a new home while sleeping in ours.”
Morgan began crying again.
“It wasn’t like some secret fantasy.”
“Then what was it?”
“A backup.”
He almost laughed.
“A two-bedroom apartment with your girlfriend was a backup?”
Morgan snapped.
“I was afraid you would make me leave the second you found out!”
“I probably would have.”
“Exactly.”
“That’s called consequences.”
“I have a child.”
“So do I.”
Morgan froze.
Pierce continued.
“You keep talking about Ava like she belongs to you first and me second.”
“I don’t.”
“You planned where she would live without speaking to her father.”
“I assumed we would share custody.”
“Then why didn’t you plan with me?”
“Because you didn’t know!”
Pierce stared.
For one second, Morgan seemed to hear herself.
Her shoulders dropped.
“I know how that sounds.”
“It sounds accurate.”
She sat.
“Sierra wanted certainty.”
“What does that mean?”
“She was tired of being hidden.”
Pierce nodded.
“I imagine closets get uncomfortable.”
Morgan glared.
He immediately regretted the cheapness of the remark.
Not because Sierra deserved kindness from him.
Because he did not want to become someone who survived humiliation by spreading more.
He sat across from Morgan.
“What did Sierra think our marriage was?”
Morgan frowned.
“What?”
“What did you tell her?”
“That we were unhappy.”
“Did you tell her we were still sleeping together?”
Morgan looked down.
Pierce’s stomach turned.
“Morgan.”
“No.”
“You told Sierra we weren’t?”
“I told her we barely did.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“No.”
Pierce stood.
“She thought you and I had stopped having sex.”
“Mostly.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“Do not rewrite reality because the frequency wasn’t enough for you.”
Morgan started crying.
“Fine.”
He remembered Charleston.
Their anniversary.
He felt suddenly ashamed, though he had done nothing wrong.
“Did Sierra know about Charleston?”
“Yes.”
“What did you tell her?”
“That you planned it before.”
Pierce laughed in disbelief.
“I planned our anniversary before our anniversary.”
“I know.”
“Did she know we slept together?”
Morgan said nothing.
Pierce closed his eyes.
“You lied to her too.”
Morgan’s face hardened.
“She knew I was married.”
“That isn’t the same as knowing what your marriage actually looked like.”
“She knew enough.”
“No.”
Pierce stepped closer.
“She knew the version that made it easier to sleep with you.”
Morgan stared.
“You want me to say I manipulated her?”
“I want you to stop acting like this was one clean love story trapped inside an inconvenient marriage.”
Morgan’s eyes filled again.
“It felt real.”
“I’m sure.”
“You think because it was wrong, it couldn’t be real?”
Pierce paused.
That question mattered.
“No.”
He answered carefully.
“I think something can be real and still be wrong.”
Morgan went quiet.
Pierce looked at the photograph again.
“Who knew about the cabin?”
“Sierra.”
“Anyone else?”
“My attorney knew I was going away.”
“Why?”
“I emailed documents.”
“What documents?”
Morgan’s hesitation returned.
Pierce felt dread.
“What did you send?”
“A proposed parenting schedule.”
He stared.
“You drafted custody arrangements before telling me you wanted a divorce.”
“I wanted to understand options.”
“What options?”
Morgan stood.
“I am not doing this.”
“You had the freedom to spend months preparing while I had ten seconds to watch Sierra walk out of my closet.”
“That doesn’t mean you get every private conversation I had.”
“You’re right.”
Pierce nodded.
“Legally, you’re right.”
Morgan looked surprised again.
He was not going to steal her phone.
Demand passwords.
Threaten her.
The temptation existed.
He refused it.
“But emotionally?”
His voice cracked.
“You don’t get to ask me for trust while hiding a second household.”
Morgan covered her face.
Pierce’s phone buzzed again.
Unknown number.
This time:
You want to know who took the picture?
Pierce typed:
Yes.
The reply came immediately.
I did.
Then:
Because Morgan wasn’t the only person Sierra was lying to.
Pierce stared at the message.
He looked at Morgan.
“Who else was Sierra seeing?”
Morgan’s face became confused.
“What?”
May you like
Pierce handed her the phone.
For the first time since he walked in on the affair, Morgan looked genuinely blindsided.
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