Chapter 1 - The Barking DoorBryce’s arm was around Mara when the sound of tires rolled across the private driveway.
For half a second, neither of them moved.
Bryce had been lying against the pillows, relaxed enough to laugh at something Mara had whispered. Sunlight spilled through the tall bedroom windows. Mara’s housemaid uniform was draped over the chair beside the bed, and she wore one of Bryce’s white shirts.
They had no reason to hurry.
Celine was supposed to be away until tomorrow.
Then an engine stopped outside.
Bryce’s smile disappeared.
He turned toward the window.
Mara pushed herself upright.
“What is it?”
Bryce crossed the room, pulled the curtain aside, and looked down.
His breath caught.
A familiar black SUV sat in the driveway.
The driver’s door opened.
Celine stepped out.
Biscuit, her golden retriever, jumped down after her.
Bryce’s face drained of color.
“Celine’s home!”
Mara stared at him.
“Didn’t she say she was coming back tomorrow?”
“I know what she said.”
“Then why is she—”
“Get in there!”
Bryce pointed at the massive built-in wardrobe.
Mara froze.
“What?”
“Now!”
Footsteps were already approaching the front entrance.
Mara grabbed her clothes, rushed barefoot across the bedroom, and slipped inside the wardrobe.
Bryce closed the doors.
“Bryce.”
Her voice came faintly through the wood.
“What?”
“My shoes.”
He looked down.
A pair of women’s flats sat beside the bed.
Bryce grabbed them and shoved them beneath the mattress just as the front door opened downstairs.
“Bryce?”
Celine’s voice.
Bright.
Happy.
Trusting.
He shut his eyes for one second.
Then he straightened his shirt.
Smoothed his hair.
Forced his shoulders loose.
By the time he entered the hallway, he was smiling.
Celine had just placed her travel bag beside the staircase.
At twenty-three, she still had a youthful way of smiling with her whole face. She had cut the business trip short when the final meeting had been canceled, imagining Bryce’s surprise when she walked in a day early.
Biscuit trotted beside her, tail sweeping excitedly.
Bryce opened his arms.
“I missed you so much.”
Celine laughed and hugged him.
“I missed you too.”
He held her tightly.
Too tightly.
But she didn’t notice.
“You must be exhausted,” he said quickly. “Why don’t we go out for dinner?”
“Sure.”
Relief flashed across his eyes.
Then Celine added, “Let me change first.”
The relief vanished.
Only for an instant.
But it vanished.
Celine had already turned toward the staircase.
Bryce followed.
“So soon? We could just leave now.”
“I’ve been in these clothes since six this morning.”
“You look beautiful.”
“That has never stopped me from changing.”
She smiled over her shoulder.
He didn’t.
Biscuit followed her into the bedroom.
The dog took three steps.
Then stopped.
His ears lifted.
His nose angled toward the wardrobe.
His tail began moving.
Once.
Twice.
Then faster.
Biscuit barked.
Mara’s eyes widened behind the doors.
Bryce stepped forward.
“Biscuit! Get out.”
The dog glanced at him.
Then turned back.
Bark.
Bark.
Bark.
Celine stopped near the bed.
“What’s wrong with him?”
“He probably saw something.”
“In the wardrobe?”
“Who knows? Come on. Let’s go eat.”
Celine looked at Biscuit.
The dog’s nose was nearly touching the narrow gap between the wardrobe doors.
His tail continued wagging.
He wasn’t frightened.
He was excited.
As if someone familiar was standing on the other side.
Celine slowly turned toward Bryce.
His smile had become rigid.
“Bryce?”
“What?”
“Why are you sweating?”
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
“I just came downstairs fast.”
She stared at him.
Then at the wardrobe.
Bryce stepped between her and it.
“Celine, seriously. We have a reservation.”
“No, we don’t.”
He blinked.
“You just suggested dinner thirty seconds ago.”
A pulse jumped in his jaw.
Celine moved around him.
Biscuit barked again.
She approached the wardrobe.
Bryce followed.
“Celine.”
She reached for the handle.
His voice changed.
“Celine, wait—”
She opened the doors.
Mara stood inside.
For one terrible second, nobody spoke.
Celine’s eyes traveled from Mara’s bare feet to Bryce’s shirt covering her body.
Then to the clothes clutched against Mara’s chest.
The woman Celine saw every morning.
The woman who knew how she took her coffee.
The woman who had folded Celine’s dresses, changed her sheets, fed Biscuit, and accepted a Christmas bonus six months earlier.
“MARA?!”
Mara’s lips parted.
No sound came out.
Celine stared at her.
Her eyes reddened.
Then she slowly turned toward Bryce.
He looked like a man who had just watched the floor disappear beneath him.
“Celine,” he whispered.
She raised one hand.
“Don’t.”
Bryce stopped.
Mara stepped shakily from the wardrobe.
Celine backed away as though even sharing the same air hurt.
“How long?”
Bryce looked at Mara.
That was his first mistake.
Celine saw it.
Her face changed.
Not from shock anymore.
From understanding.
“You’re looking at her before you answer me?”
“It’s complicated.”
“No. Numbers aren’t complicated. One week? One month? One year?”
Mara swallowed.
“Five months.”
Bryce snapped toward her.
“Mara.”
Celine went still.
Five months.
Christmas.
Her birthday.
Their anniversary.
Five months meant Mara had been standing inside this bedroom with clean towels in her hands while carrying a secret that belonged in the bed.
Celine grabbed the edge of the dresser.
Bryce approached.
“Listen to me.”
“Stay away.”
“I made a mistake.”
“A mistake?”
Her voice cracked.
“A mistake is forgetting our anniversary. You hid another woman in my wardrobe.”
“It wasn’t supposed to—”
“Stop.”
Bryce fell silent.
Biscuit moved beside Celine and leaned gently against her leg.
Mara began crying.
Celine looked at her.
“I trusted you.”
“I know.”
“You worked in my home.”
“I know.”
“You knew I loved him.”
Mara lowered her head.
“I know.”
“Then why?”
Mara opened her mouth.
Bryce immediately said, “She should leave.”
Celine looked at him.
His urgency was wrong.
Not angry.
Afraid.
Mara noticed it too.
Something shifted behind her expression.
Bryce pointed toward the door.
“Get dressed and leave, Mara.”
Mara did not move.
“Mara.”
His voice hardened.
Celine watched them.
“What else is going on?”
“Nothing.”
Bryce answered too quickly.
Celine looked directly at Mara.
“What else?”
Mara’s breathing became shallow.
Bryce stepped toward her.
“Don’t.”
It was only one word.
But Celine heard the threat inside it.
Mara looked at Bryce.
Then at Celine.
And whatever fear had kept her silent finally lost to something larger.
“Celine…”
Bryce’s jaw clenched.
“Mara, shut up.”
Mara’s eyes filled.
Then she said the sentence that made the affair suddenly feel like the smallest danger in the room.
“Whatever Bryce gives you tomorrow…”
May you like
She swallowed.
“…don’t sign it.”
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