Chapter 12: Suspicions

I didn’t sleep all night, replaying Natalie’s abnormal behaviors in my mind. I realized that besides her so-called ‘overtime,’ she’s been going on business trips more and more frequently in the past two years.

I watched the digital numbers on my bedside clock crawl toward morning, every hour replaying her schedule—late nights, weekend flights, the constant hum of new meetings and new projects. I realized I’d become an expert in her absences, a detective piecing together a calendar of betrayals.

And Natalie isn’t someone who likes crowds. On her days off, she usually stays home, sometimes going out to eat or see a movie with me. Most of her friends are married with kids and rarely invite her out. So I figured her lover probably isn’t from her circle of friends.

I thought back to our weekends—quiet brunches, the rare movie night. Her circle of friends was tight-knit, old college roommates with little kids and carpool schedules. No, this was someone she saw at work—someone woven into the fabric of her daily life.