The Lie He Chose First
Chapter 02 - The Lie He Chose First
Ryan climbed out of the pool and grabbed a towel.
“Elena, you were supposed to be in Chicago until Monday.”
She stared at him.
That sentence told her more than any confession could have.
“You didn’t answer my question.”
Chloe stood silently in the shallow end, arms folded across herself.
Ryan lowered his voice.
“She’s helping me with something.”
“At sunset? In a swimming pool?”
“Elena.”
“No. Say it clearly.”
His jaw tightened.
For fourteen years, Elena had known every version of Ryan Hart—the charming young architect who brought coffee to her office, the ambitious husband who worked late, the grieving son who once cried into her shoulder after his father died.
She had never seen this version.
Cornered.
Calculating.
Ryan glanced toward Chloe.
That tiny look between them made Elena’s stomach turn.
“We were going to tell you,” he said.
“We?”
Chloe finally spoke.
“Ryan said the marriage was basically over.”
Elena looked at her.
“And you believed him?”
Chloe’s face changed.
Apparently, that answer had not been as simple as Ryan expected.
Ryan stepped between them.
“Enough.”
Elena turned toward the villa.
Inside, she noticed two champagne glasses on the kitchen island.
Beside them sat a leather folder stamped with the logo of a luxury real-estate firm.
Elena stopped.
Ryan moved faster.
He grabbed the folder.
Too late.
She had already seen the first page.
PROPERTY VALUATION.
Her mother’s villa.
Estimated listing price: $4.8 million.
Elena slowly faced her husband.
“You’re selling the house?”
Ryan said nothing.
Chloe looked at him.
“You told me she agreed.”
And suddenly Elena understood.
May you like
Ryan had not only brought another woman into the house.
He had brought her there to help him sell it.
