Chapter 2

The next afternoon, I left work early and waited outside Adrian's office building.

When he saw me, surprise crossed his face before he replaced it with pleasure.

"Nora? What are you doing here?"

"A colleague recommended a restaurant. I thought I'd take you to dinner."

He drew breath, already preparing an excuse. I looped my arm through his and steered him toward the car before he found one.

I was sure he had promised to replace the pendant he had taken back. I didn't know when he planned to meet her, but I knew he still had money.

If there was money available, it belonged in our marriage before it belonged on his mistress.

At the restaurant, I ordered the most expensive set menu.

There was a seafood tower, a whole roasted turbot, and more courses than two people could sensibly finish.

I ate well. Whether Adrian enjoyed any of it, I couldn't say.

Halfway through dessert, he excused himself to the restroom—and stayed gone longer than a man should need.

When he came back, he was already putting his phone away, and his face had the distracted look of someone who had just disappointed a woman and promised to make it up to her.

We finished the meal. The server brought the check to the table, and Adrian laid his card on top of it without a word.

On the way out, we passed a jeweler's window.

I stopped.

"Since we're here, let's look."

Adrian glanced at his phone, but I was already inside.

I told the sales staff, with my warmest smile, that my husband had just given me two pendants for Valentine's Day.

Something lit behind their eyes. A generous husband was good news.

They brought out the case of studs first.

I picked out the biggest pair in the case, held them to my ears in the mirror, and let the staff do the persuading.

"Which one do you like?" I turned to Adrian.

His phone rang.

He looked at the screen. "It's someone from work. I need to take this."

As he stepped toward the door, I lifted the studs toward the light.

"Never mind. I'll take these."

He paused, then nodded. "Fine."

By the time he came back, the studs were boxed and the payment screen was waiting. Adrian paid without mentioning the call.

I admired them all the way home.

Halfway there, I broke the silence. "I know what I want for my birthday next week."

His hands tightened on the steering wheel.

"A ring I tried on. It would look good with everything else."

He was silent long enough for the streetlights to slide across his face twice.

"Nora, I'm out of money. Can I buy it next month, after payday?"

I counted his recent expenses aloud. "Two pendants, a pair of studs, dinner. That is a lot."

"The project bonus I got is gone." He kept his eyes on the road. "I spent all of it on you."

He reached over and covered my hand with his, as if poverty had made him more sincere.

"If you really want it, I'll get it next month. I promise."

"All right."

For years, Adrian had transferred the salary he claimed to earn into our joint household account.

I had never imagined there was another amount, hidden behind poor company performance and disappointing bonuses, large enough to support a second romance.

Now he said every available dollar was gone.

I didn't believe him.

So I stopped asking questions. I started collecting answers.

I sewed a small tracker into the lining of one of Adrian's jackets.

The first useful location it gave me wasn't a mall or jewelry store.

After dinner one evening, Adrian said he was going downstairs for his usual walk. His signal left our neighborhood, crossed half the city, and stopped inside an apartment complex.

He stayed there for almost two hours.

That gave me her neighborhood but nothing I could act on, so I stayed home.

Adrian came back carrying barbecue skewers.

"The smell caught me on the way past. I had to wait for a fresh batch, but I thought you'd like them."

He leaned close as he set the food down.

Beneath the cumin and smoke, I smelled perfume.

The scent made me sneeze — and I knew it.

Months earlier, Adrian had given me a bottle of the same perfume as a Christmas gift. I had asked whether he could exchange it, because a coworker wore it and it always made me sneeze.

He had gone pale then, too. He had agreed so quickly that I had never actually opened the bottle.

At the time, I assumed he had simply chosen badly.

Now I understood. He had bought two perfumes and mixed them up. The one meant for his lover had come home to his wife.

"Are you getting sick?" Adrian asked.

He hurried to shut the window and brought me a glass of water

Concern came easily to him when it cost nothing.