Chapter 6 - Sierra Had Another Secret TooMorgan called Sierra.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Pierce stood near the window while Morgan paced the living room.
“You think this is funny?”
He turned.
“What?”
“This anonymous message.”
“No.”
“You suddenly get to enjoy watching my relationship explode too?”
Pierce stared at her.
“Do you hear yourself?”
Morgan stopped.
He continued.
“I learned less than twenty-four hours ago that my wife has been having an affair.”
“I know.”
“You are currently angry that your girlfriend may have been dishonest with you.”
Morgan looked ashamed.
Pierce shook his head.
“I do not enjoy any of this.”
Her phone rang.
Sierra.
Morgan answered immediately.
“Were you seeing someone else?”
Pierce looked away.
He had no desire to hear the intimate collapse of the affair that destroyed his marriage.
But Morgan put the call on speaker.
Maybe intentionally.
Maybe because she no longer wanted hidden conversations.
Sierra’s voice came through.
“What?”
“Someone photographed us at the cabin.”
Silence.
Morgan continued.
“They’re messaging Pierce.”
Sierra swore.
“Who?”
“They said you were lying to someone else.”
Another silence.
Morgan’s face changed.
“Sierra.”
“It isn’t what you think.”
Pierce almost laughed.
Apparently everyone used that sentence.
Morgan’s voice sharpened.
“Who?”
“My ex.”
“What ex?”
“Talia.”
“You said you hadn’t spoken to her in a year.”
“We weren’t together.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Sierra sighed.
“She came to the cabin.”
Morgan froze.
“What?”
Pierce looked at the photograph again.
The distant angle.
Someone across the lake or driveway.
Morgan whispered, “You told her where we were?”
“No.”
“She followed you?”
“She knew the reservation.”
“How?”
Sierra stopped answering.
Morgan’s eyes widened.
“You used her account.”
“What?”
“The booking.”
Sierra said nothing.
Morgan looked sick.
Pierce remembered Morgan had told him the cabin was rented through Sierra.
Sierra finally spoke.
“Talia and I still share a business account.”
Morgan laughed bitterly.
“You told me she was completely out of your life.”
“She is.”
“She followed us to Pennsylvania!”
“I didn’t know she would.”
Pierce interrupted.
“Why would she photograph you?”
Sierra went silent.
Pierce stepped closer to the phone.
“You sent my wife a future. Apartment. Family. All of it.”
Morgan looked at him, hurt.
He continued.
“Was Talia under the impression she still had a future with you too?”
Sierra’s voice became defensive.
“No.”
Morgan whispered, “Answer him.”
“She was having trouble letting go.”
“That’s not an answer.”
Sierra exhaled.
“We slept together twice after Morgan and I started.”
Morgan physically recoiled.
Pierce closed his eyes.
The room became absurd.
A chain of betrayal folding inward.
Morgan’s eyes filled.
“When?”
“December.”
Morgan stared.
December.
Before Morgan claimed her physical relationship with Sierra began.
That might have been technically outside whatever Morgan believed they were.
Then Sierra added:
“And once in February.”
Morgan stopped breathing.
“When in February?”
Silence.
“Sierra.”
“The nineteenth.”
Morgan sank into a chair.
Pierce knew that date meant something to her.
“What happened February nineteenth?”
Morgan whispered, “She told me she loved me on the eighteenth.”
Pierce looked away.
There was no satisfaction.
Only sadness.
Sierra started crying on the phone.
“I was scared.”
Morgan laughed through tears.
“You were scared?”
“Yes.”
“You told me I had to be honest.”
“I know.”
“You told me secrets were killing me.”
“I know.”
“You told me I had to stop living two lives.”
Sierra said nothing.
Morgan looked at Pierce.
For the first time, she seemed to understand how hypocrisy sounded from the other side.
Sierra finally said:
“Talia and I were together six years. I messed up.”
Morgan whispered, “You lied to me.”
Pierce almost said, So did you.
He stopped himself.
She knew.
The anonymous number sent another message.
Pierce opened it.
Tell Sierra I have the audio from the cabin.
He showed Morgan.
Morgan read it.
“What audio?”
Sierra’s voice changed.
“What did he say?”
Morgan stared at the phone.
“He says he has audio.”
Sierra went silent.
Morgan’s face hardened.
“What audio?”
“Morgan…”
“What did you record?”
“Nothing.”
“Then why are you scared?”
Sierra’s breathing became audible.
Pierce looked at Morgan.
“Ask her.”
Morgan already knew there was something.
“What happened at the cabin after Ava went to bed?”
“Nothing unusual.”
Pierce stepped closer.
“Sierra.”
Silence.
He continued.
“Someone is sending me evidence. If you want any chance of controlling what happens next, stop lying before the evidence answers for you.”
Sierra began crying.
“I recorded Morgan.”
Morgan went completely still.
“What?”
“I recorded one conversation.”
“Why?”
“Because I didn’t trust what you would do if you changed your mind.”
Morgan stared.
Pierce felt a cold realization.
Sierra had been protecting herself.
From Morgan.
“What conversation?”
“The night we talked about the apartment.”
Morgan stood.
“You recorded me without telling me?”
“I was scared you’d blame everything on me.”
Morgan laughed bitterly.
“You mean like you’re doing now?”
“No.”
“What did I say?”
Sierra remained silent.
Pierce asked, “What is on the recording?”
Sierra finally answered.
“Morgan talking about divorce.”
“That’s not a crime.”
“No.”
“What else?”
Morgan suddenly looked afraid.
Sierra whispered:
“Custody.”
Pierce felt his stomach tighten.
Morgan stepped toward the phone.
“What did you keep?”
“The whole conversation.”
“Delete it.”
“No.”
Morgan’s face changed.
Pierce watched.
The affair had been built on secrecy, but apparently both women had been collecting insurance against each other.
“What did Morgan say about custody?” Pierce asked.
Morgan snapped.
“Stop.”
Sierra answered anyway.
“She said Pierce’s travel schedule could make it easy.”
Pierce became completely still.
Morgan closed her eyes.
Sierra continued, voice shaking.
“She said if things got ugly, she could make him look like an absent father.”
Pierce stared at his wife.
Morgan whispered, “I was angry.”
Sierra said nothing.
Pierce’s voice dropped.
“Play it.”
Morgan shook her head.
“Pierce.”
He looked at her.
“You were not just planning to leave.”
May you like
She started crying.
“You were planning how to win.”
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