Andrew’s POV

"Fuck!" I yelled, my head swung around to look towards the door. My eyes widened as I realized that Melinda had already seen too much. She wasn’t supposed to show up , not without warning.

Not with that look in her eyes and that silly white dress she always wore on our anniversaries like we were still the couple we used to be. Which we weren't anymore.

Leaning on the door, I tried to steady my breath. My heart was racing and all I could think was she wasn’t meant to see that. "I'm fucked up now".

“Do you think she saw everything?” Vanessa asked, her voice low but calm, like this was just another minor inconvenience.

I didn’t answer right away. I was still replaying the look on Melinda’s face shock, pain, and something colder… final.

“I don’t know,” I muttered. “But it doesn’t matter now. Damage is done.”

Vanessa sighed and fixed her skirt, looking calm like nothing happened “You knew this would come out eventually. Better now than later.”

I walked to the desk, hoping to think straight, but everything inside me felt like a storm. This wasn’t how today was meant to unfold.

It was our anniversary.

I could still hear her heels, sharp and loud in my head. Melinda always showed up when she shouldn’t, this time, she ruined everything.

Vanessa was still fixing her shirt when I shut and locked the door.

"She’s really losing it," Vanessa muttered, wiping the lipstick off her collarbone like it was just another Tuesday.

“You saw her eyes did she know about the photos?”

"She knows now,” I said coolly, tossing the remaining contents of the envelope onto my desk. Fabricated proof, Just enough scandal and manipulation to break her.

Vanessa made herself comfortable on the leather couch, crossed her legs, and gave off that smug, in control vibe she was famous for. I don't know how she does it, she just wasn't bothered about what had just played out.

She carried herself as if she was already my wife. Her confidence was part of the reason I’d fallen into bed with her. That and the fact that Melinda had stopped being interesting a long time ago.

You think she bought it?" Vanessa asked, raising a skeptical brow.

I shrugged. “She left, didn’t she?”

I glanced out the window. She’d probably be halfway across the parking garage by now, clutching her pearls like a soap opera heroine. Melinda never did know how to handle confrontation. Always the quiet type. Sweet. Predictable.

That was the beauty of her.

She never saw it coming.

Vanessa laughed, low and cruel. You’re something else, babe so ruthless.

No," I said as I leaned back in my chair. “I’m practical.”

Marriage is a business arrangement. Always has been. Melinda and I made sense on paper. Two architects, fresh out of school, building a firm from scratch. She had the talent, and I had the drive. I let her shine a little just enough to keep her wanting more, but not enough to become a threat.

She never realized she was working for me, not with me.

Until she started talking about starting her own firm. Wanting more. That’s when I knew she had to go. A divorce would cost too much bad press, bad timing, and Melinda had more friends in the design world than I liked to admit.

So Vanessa and I made a plan.

The photos. The staged betrayal. The right push at the right moment.

And it worked until she showed up before we were ready.

“She didn’t scream,” Vanessa said suddenly, almost disappointed. “She just looked… shattered.”

“She’ll cry it out in some hotel bathroom and go back to her pretty little spreadsheets,” I muttered. “Melinda doesn’t have the guts to walk away.”

Something felt off.

It wasn’t disgust. I’d seen that before. This was worse. It was the silence. She didn’t say a word. The way she didn’t crumble right there in front of us.

She just… walked out.

“She knows,” I said quietly.

Vanessa blinked. “Knows what?”

I turned slowly toward her, every muscle stiffening. “She heard us.”

Vanessa's smirk faded. “What are you talking about?”

“She came in earlier than we expected,” I said, standing. “I didn’t hear the elevator. She must’ve already been outside the door when we were talking.”

"You said the door was shut"

"Doors don’t muffle secrets, Vanessa. You and I were talking about her life insurance policy. About how convenient it would be if she just… disappeared. You think that didn’t plant a seed?”

Silence.

I picked up my phone and dialed her number. Straight to voicemail.

Again.

I tossed the phone back on the desk. “Damn it.”

“She won’t do anything,” Vanessa said nervously. “She’s soft, remember?”

“Not anymore,” I said, eyes narrowing. “If she heard what I think she did, she’s not just angry. She’s calculating.”

Vanessa shifted on the couch. “Okay, so what now?”

“I check the bank accounts. The property deeds. I’ll call Marcus see if he’s heard from her. She can’t move much without making noise.”

The more I spoke, the more distant she seemed. For the first time in years, I couldn’t read Melinda and that shook me more than I was ready to admit.

She was good at planning things when she wanted to be. Obsessive with details. She didn’t cry. She didn’t scream. That wasn’t grief I saw in her eyes when she left. That was clarity.

Melinda had stopped being weak the moment I thought I broke her and if she was smart and she was, she’d already gone to the lawyers. Maybe even canceled the insurance policy. Maybe moved the money. If she had any dirt on me, she’d bury it deep until she was ready to strike.

The hunter had become the hunted.

“She’s not coming back,” I muttered.

Vanessa stood stiffly, arms folded. “So that’s it? You’re just going to let her leave?”

“I don’t have a choice. Not right now.”

I reached into my drawer and pulled out the file Vanessa and I had put together, fabricated emails, staged hotel receipts, doctored surveillance photos. All of it felt like a joke now. Because if Melinda really left, and she had something stronger than this up her sleeve I was the one exposed.

Vanessa hovered behind me like a vulture. “If she talks”

“She won’t,” I said. “Not yet.”

I had to find her first. Before she could rebuild. Before she could come back stronger.

Because if there was one thing I knew for certain it was that Melinda always played the long game.

And for the first time since she walked into my life, I didn’t know what move she’d make next.