He looked ashamed.
“You ordered romantic dinners.”
“I know.”
“Two chopsticks.”
“I know.”
“A Valentine’s platter.”
“I know.”
I stared at him.
“Do you understand what that looked like?”
He didn’t answer.
“Do you understand what I thought when I saw it?”
“I do now.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“You don’t.”
I pointed at the folder.
“You were sitting in a hotel room with another woman, lying to your wife, while ordering romantic dinners. You don’t get to tell me that it looked innocent.”
Emily quietly said:
“Sarah, I’m sorry.”
I turned toward her.
“How long?”
She looked confused.
“How long what?”
“How long have you two been doing this?”
Daniel answered.
“Six weeks.”
I closed my eyes.
Six weeks.
Six weeks of late nights.
Six weeks of cold dinners.
Six weeks of messages saying he was exhausted.
Six weeks of me believing him.
Then Daniel said:
“But Sarah, I swear to you, nothing happened between us.”
I opened my eyes.
“That’s not what I’m asking.”
He looked at me.
I pointed at the door.
“You lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“You let me think you were cheating on me.”
“I was afraid you’d leave.”
I stared at him.
“You were afraid I’d leave because you were doing something that looked exactly like something I would leave you for.”
He had no answer.
I looked down at the folder.
There were copies of emails.
Financial records.
Internal messages.
Names of executives.
Evidence that could potentially expose the company.
Daniel had spent six weeks gathering everything.
Emily had been helping him.
And the hotel room had been their safe place.
But there was one thing I still couldn’t understand.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”