Chapter 18: The Locked Door

The company is on the fifteenth floor. Standing in the dim corridor, looking at Marcus’s company’s already locked door, I felt like I’d been struck hard on the head—dizzy, barely able to stand.

The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, flickering. The office door was closed, the hallway empty except for the lingering scent of industrial cleaner. My heart thudded painfully, each beat louder than the last.

The cleaning lady walked by with a bucket and turned off the corridor lights. I grabbed her and asked, “Is this company closed?”

She shot me a wary look, her hands red from the hot water. She didn’t recognize me—another sign of how invisible I’d become.

She looked puzzled. “Closed? They just got off work.”

She glanced at the office door, shrugging like it was obvious. Clearly, she’d seen a thousand husbands like me—lost, confused, desperate for answers.

“When did they get off work?”

My voice was tight, strained. I tried to sound casual, but my desperation leaked out.

She looked annoyed. “How would I know? But when I came to clean at seven, the door was already locked.”

She turned away, her bucket sloshing, eager to move on. I was just another lost soul in a building full of secrets.

It was nine-thirty at night. Natalie’s company gets off at six. The building cleaner comes at seven and finds the door locked. Doesn’t that mean her so-called overtime meeting was a complete lie?

The facts lined up in my head, neat and damning. My hands shook as I realized how thoroughly I’d been played.