“Where’s my ticket?”

“You weren’t supposed to come.”

Lauren stared at him, and the last illusion disappeared. He hadn’t chosen her over me. He’d selected her because she was useful. Her signature put distance between him and the money.

Her affair made her easy to discredit. Her marriage to me placed another person between Ethan and the investigation. Once the transfers were complete, he would leave with Natalie, and Lauren would be left with the documents, the loan, and the affair everyone could use to explain her motive.

She had believed she was betraying me for a new future. In reality, Ethan had been preparing to betray her from the beginning.

“Tell me it isn’t real,” she said. He said nothing. “Tell me you weren’t leaving tomorrow.” Silence. “Tell me Natalie is only a consultant.”