My husband had been pretending to go to work for an entire week, but when I followed him to a secret building and saw who walked out beside him, I realized the person destroying my marriage was someone I trusted with my life…

The bathroom lock clicked.

I scrambled back toward the dining table, sliding silently into my chair just as Daniel walked back into the room.

His face was completely drained of color. He looked like a man who had just received a terminal diagnosis.

"Everything okay?" I asked, keeping my voice light despite the roaring pulse in my ears.

"Server glitch," he muttered, not looking at me. He picked up his wine glass and drained it in a single swallow. "I might need to head back downtown later tonight to oversee a reboot. Don't wait up for me."

"Of course," I replied. "Work comes first."

By 10:30 PM, Daniel had changed into dark, nondescript clothing: a black jacket, dark jeans, and sturdy boots. He kissed me on the cheek while I lay in bed pretending to be half-asleep.

"Get some rest, Nora," he whispered gently. "I love you. More than anything."

There was an unsettling weight in his words, as though he were saying goodbye for good.

The moment I heard the front door click shut and his car reverse down the driveway, I threw off the covers. I had already dressed in dark leggings and a dark sweater underneath my robe. I grabbed my car keys, slipped my phone into my pocket, and headed out into the night.

Pier 14 was an abandoned industrial terminal on the southern edge of the harbor. Decades ago, it had been a bustling hub for cargo vessels; now, it was a desolate graveyard of rusted shipping containers, cracked asphalt, and rotting wooden pilings jutting into the black water.

I kept my headlights off as I approached the access road, guiding my car using the faint glow of the distant city skyline. I parked behind an overgrown wall of brambles three hundred yards from the pier's main gate.

The wind off the water was freezing, carrying the sharp stench of salt and brine. I pulled up my hood and walked briskly through the shadows, keeping behind the towering stacks of abandoned shipping containers.

Ahead, beneath the amber flicker of a dying sodium streetlight, Daniel was waiting.

He was pacing beside a rusted metal bollard, checking his watch every few seconds.

Then, a shadowy figure emerged from behind the warehouse ruins. It was Vivian. She was carrying a worn backpack, clutching it tightly to her chest.

"You're late," Daniel hissed, his voice cutting through the sound of lapping waves.

"There was a black sedan parked near the subway exit," Vivian gasped, out of breath. "I thought they spotted me. Daniel, we can't do this. Sterling has people everywhere. If he catches us—"

"He won't," Daniel cut in fiercely. "We have the original financial ledgers from six years ago. We have the proof that Victor Sterling embezzled the twenty million dollars and used your father’s signature to pin the blame on him. And we have the chemical panel proving he poisoned Arthur while he was in holding."

My knees nearly gave out from beneath me.

*Arthur.* My father.

The world tilted violently on its axis.

"And Nora?" Vivian’s voice cracked, thick with tears. "What happens to my sister when this explodes? Sterling’s men will hunt her down just to silence you!"

"That's why she can't know anything," Daniel said, his voice cracking with emotion. "I booked two tickets on a private freighter leaving for Europe tomorrow morning. You and Nora are getting on that boat."

Vivian stared at him. "And you?"

"I have to deliver the physical drive to the Attorney General's task force in the morning. Once the federal indictment drops, Sterling will be in cuffs, and you and Nora will be safe."

I stepped out from behind the shipping container, my tears hot against the freezing wind.

"Daniel," I whispered.