Chapter 3: The Man in the Cadillac
For three seconds, nobody moved.
The alarm wailed across the garden. Water dripped from Marcus's elbows onto the patio. Inside the fireplace, the garments continued to scorch, sending a thin thread of smoke into the late-afternoon air.
Brianna stared at the black Cadillac.
Marcus stared at Brianna.
I stared at both of them.
“Your husband?”” I repeated.
Brianna's mouth trembled.
“Yes.””
I looked from her to Marcus.
“You're married?””
Marcus dragged a hand through his wet hair.
“Lauren, this is complicated.””
I let out a breath that sounded almost like a laugh.
“No. Complicated is filing taxes when you own three businesses. Complicated is deciding whether to sell a house when the market changes.””
I pointed toward the pool.
“This is two people lying to everyone around them.””
Marcus's face hardened.
“Can you please stop acting like you know everything?””
I looked at him in disbelief.
“You're right. I don't know everything.””
I gestured toward Brianna.
“Apparently, I don't even know the basics.””
Brianna flinched as if I had slapped her.
“I didn't know about you at first,” she said quickly.
“I swear I didn't.””
Marcus turned toward her.
“Don't.””
She ignored him.
“When we met, he told me he was single. He said his last relationship had ended months ago.””
I stared at her.
“Then when did you find out about me?””
She pressed her lips together.
“Three weeks ago.””
“And you stayed?””
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I thought he was going to leave.””
Marcus threw his towel onto the chair.
“This is unbelievable.””
Brianna rounded on him.
“You told me you were waiting for the right time!””
“I was trying to figure things out.””
“You said Lauren was only staying because she couldn't afford to move!””
The words struck the patio like a dropped glass.
I felt something inside me go cold.
Only staying because she couldn't afford to move.
I looked at Marcus.
He wouldn't meet my eyes.
“Is that what you told her?”” I asked.
He shook his head impatiently.
“That was taken out of context.””
“What context makes that sentence better?””
He stepped toward me.
“Lauren, you know how things have been between us. We've both been busy. We've had problems.””
“Every couple has problems.””
“You've been distant.””
I stared at him.
“You were in my bed last night.””
His face twitched.
“And this morning,” I continued, “you kissed me goodbye before I went grocery shopping.””
He looked away.
“You can't tell me I imagined that.””
“I never said you imagined it.””
“Then what exactly are you saying?””
He opened his mouth, but Brianna spoke first.
“He told me you were already planning to move out.””
I turned to her.
“Did he?””
She nodded miserably.
“He said the house was practically his. He told me you were just staying until you found somewhere else.””
The words didn't merely hurt.
They rearranged the last three years in my mind.
The kitchen renovations. The landscaping. The furniture we had chosen together. The weekends I had spent organizing bills and arranging maintenance appointments while Marcus talked about how lucky we were to have built a beautiful life.
I had paid my share of the mortgage, utilities, and renovations. I had put my own savings into the property because Marcus had told me we were investing in our future.
Now he had apparently been telling another woman that I was little more than a temporary guest.
I looked at the house beyond the patio doors.
Then back at him.
“Did you tell her that you owned this property?””
Marcus's silence lasted a fraction too long.
Brianna stared at him.
“Marcus?””
He rubbed his jaw.
“I told her what she needed to know.””
I felt the last of my shock disappear.
“What she needed to know,” I repeated.
He took a breath and tried to soften his expression.
“Lauren, I love you. I made a terrible decision. But we can work through this.””
I stared at him.
“You're still trying to negotiate.””
“I'm asking you to be reasonable.””
“You brought a married woman into our backyard.””
“And I apologized!””
“No,” I said.
“You panicked.””
His expression changed.
I had finally said something he couldn't easily turn around.
He looked toward the driveway again.
The Cadillac remained stationary.
No door had opened. No one had stepped out. The tinted windows concealed the driver completely.
Brianna was breathing too quickly.
“Why is he here?”” she whispered.
Marcus turned toward her.
“How would I know?””
She gave him a sharp, frightened look.
“You said he was out of town.””
“He was.””
“For how long?””
“Brianna, I don't know!””
She backed away from him until her legs touched the lounge chair.
I watched the two of them unravel, and an uncomfortable question began to form in my mind.
Why had Brianna's husband arrived at this particular house?
The gate had opened because I had activated the entry sequence. But that didn't explain why the Cadillac was already approaching the property, or why Brianna seemed certain that the driver had come for her.
Had he followed her?
Had someone told him where she was?
Or had he known about the affair long before I did?
The alarm finally stopped after its cycle completed.
The sudden quiet made everything feel more dangerous.
I could hear the pool filter humming. I could hear Marcus breathing. Beyond the fence, the neighbors had gone silent, watching from their own property without crossing the boundary.
Marcus picked up a clean towel.
“Lauren, go inside.””
I looked at him.
“Excuse me?””
“Just go inside. Let me handle this.””
“You want me to leave you alone with your mistress and her husband?””
He winced at the word.
“Don't call her that.””
Brianna stared at him.
“You have got to be joking.””
Marcus ignored her.
“Lauren, please. You're making this situation worse.””
I shook my head slowly.
“You keep saying that, but I'm not the one who created it.””
He reached toward my arm.
I stepped back before he could touch me.
His hand remained suspended between us.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then a small sound came from the driveway.
The driver's door of the Cadillac unlocked.
A quiet mechanical click.
Brianna heard it, too.
Her entire body stiffened.
“No,” she whispered.
Marcus turned toward the vehicle.
The driver's door began to open.
A polished black shoe appeared beneath the door, followed by the hem of dark trousers.
The man remained mostly concealed behind the vehicle's frame.
Brianna's eyes filled with tears.
Marcus took one involuntary step backward.
And I noticed something that made my stomach tighten.
He wasn't looking at Brianna's husband with the expression of a man who feared being exposed for cheating.
He was looking at him like a man who recognized a threat much bigger than a broken marriage.
“Marcus,” I said quietly.
He didn't answer.
I followed his gaze toward the Cadillac.
“Who is he?””
Marcus swallowed.
For the first time that afternoon, he looked directly at me without trying to manufacture an apology.
“Lauren,” he whispered, “there's something about this house you don't know.””
May you like
Then the man beside the Cadillac straightened, and Marcus stopped speaking.
Because whatever he had planned to tell me, the person who had just arrived clearly knew the truth already.
