Chapter 5 - The Messages I Never Finished Reading
Angela sent the encrypted file two days later.
I almost deleted it.
Instead, I opened it after Molly went to sleep.
Nathan sat beside me.
The first messages were exactly what I expected.
Paige and Grant arranging lunches.
Changing names in their phones.
Complaining about me.
Small betrayals written casually.
Then I found one that made me stop.
Paige:
Did she ask where you were?
Grant:
Yeah. Told her client dinner.
Paige:
Good. She believes you too easily.
My stomach turned.
Nathan reached for my hand.
I kept scrolling.
Another message:
Grant:
Erin’s suspicious.
Paige:
Then be nicer for a few days. She always backs off when you act guilty.
I stared at the screen.
She knew me.
That was the horror of being betrayed by family.
Paige did not need to study my weaknesses.
She grew up beside them.
Then came messages about fights Grant and I had never discussed with anyone.
Private arguments.
My insecurity after giving birth.
A period when I struggled to return to work.
Paige knew all of it because Grant told her.
But sometimes the conversation ran the other direction.
Paige told Grant what I had said to her.
My sister had become a bridge between both sides of my marriage.
Except she was not trying to connect us.
She was collecting information.
One message read:
She told me she thinks you’re pulling away.
Grant:
What did you say?
Paige:
That work is probably stressing you out.
Grant:
Thanks.
Paige:
See? I still protect you.
Nathan exhaled slowly.
“This wasn’t just an affair.”
I nodded.
“No.”
The next morning Paige sent me a text.
Mom says you’re telling people lies about me.
I stared at it.
I had told almost nobody anything.
She was already preparing her defense.
I typed:
Do not contact Molly.
Paige replied immediately.
You don’t get to use your daughter to punish me.
My hands went cold.
Even now.
Even after destroying my wedding.
She still thought access to my daughter belonged to her.
May you like
I blocked the number.
That was the first boundary I gave Paige that contained no expiration date.
