Chapter 3 - The Mistress Who Was Also Used
Sloane agreed to meet me at a café near the harbor.
Marissa wanted me to refuse. She reminded me that Sloane could be trying to protect herself. She reminded me that the woman had knowingly become involved with a married man, even if she had not known every detail.
She was right.
But I needed to see Sloane’s face when she explained.
The café was crowded, bright, and loud enough that no one could easily overhear us. Sloane arrived ten minutes early. She wore a beige coat and no makeup. Her hands shook around a paper cup.
She looked younger than I remembered.
Not innocent.
Just frightened.
“I am not asking for forgiveness,” she said before sitting down.
“Good,” I replied.
She nodded.
“I deserve that.”
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then she opened a folder and placed it between us.
Inside were copies of emails between Austin and Gregory Bellamy. The messages showed Austin promising that I would approve a revised proposal for the South Boston waterfront redevelopment. In exchange, Bellamy would fund Weaver Harbor Consulting and provide Austin with a large “success bonus” after the sale.
One email made my stomach turn.
AUSTIN:
NORA WILL SIGN ONCE SHE UNDERSTANDS THIS BENEFITS US BOTH. SHE HAS ALWAYS BEEN EASY TO MANAGE WHEN SHE THINKS SHE IS PROTECTING SOMEONE.
Bellamy’s reply was brief.
THEN MAKE HER THINK SHE’S PROTECTING YOU.
I stared at the words.
Austin knew exactly who I was.
He knew I would sacrifice comfort, money, and peace for people I loved.
He had built his plan around that.
Sloane looked down.
“He was going to leave me too,” she said.
I looked at her.
“What?”
“He told Bellamy I was temporary. I found a draft agreement in his laptop. He planned to move the money overseas after the deal closed and blame me for the consulting company.”
I felt no satisfaction.
Only exhaustion.
Austin had made me feel replaceable.
He had made Sloane feel chosen.
But to him, we had both been tools.
“Why are you helping me?” I asked.
Sloane swallowed.
“Because I saw the wedding photo in his office after he told me you were separated. You looked happy. And I realized he had lied to me from the beginning.”
“You stayed after you found out.”
“Yes,” she admitted. “For two days.”
At least she did not pretend otherwise.
“Then I found the documents with your signature. That was when I knew this was more than an affair.”
She pushed a flash drive toward me.
“This has everything I copied. His emails, Bellamy’s plans, the company accounts, and recordings from meetings I attended.”
“Why didn’t you go to the police?”
“Because I was scared Austin would destroy me.”
I looked out at the gray harbor water beyond the café windows.
“I understand being scared,” I said. “But fear does not make the choices for us.”
Sloane’s eyes filled.
“No,” she whispered. “It doesn’t.”
That afternoon, Marissa submitted the evidence to the district attorney and the trust board. The court expanded the asset-preservation order. Bellamy Shore Holdings was prohibited from moving certain funds. Austin’s law firm began an internal investigation.
For the first time, consequences entered his life.
He called me again.
This time, I answered.
“Nora,” he said, breathing hard. “What did you do?”
“What you expected me to never do.”
“You are ruining everything.”
“No. I am stopping you from ruining my father’s work.”
“This is a misunderstanding.”
“Austin, I saw your emails.”
Silence.
Then his voice changed.
“You went through my private files?”
“You forged my signature.”
“You don’t understand how business works.”
“I understand fraud.”
“You are angry because of Sloane.”
“I am angry because you used our marriage, my inheritance, my father’s trust, and another woman’s name to fund your greed.”
He was quiet.
Then he said, “I loved you.”
The words should have hurt.
Instead, they sounded like a line from a speech he had practiced too often.
“You loved what I could protect for you,” I replied.
“Nora, please. Come home.”
I looked around the small apartment I had rented above a bookstore. It was nothing like our expensive house. The floors creaked. The windows rattled in the wind. There was one lamp in the living room and a tiny kitchen with faded cabinets.
But it was mine.
“No,” I said.
His voice broke.
“You promised forever.”
“I promised the man I thought you were.”
I ended the call.
That night, Marissa received an emergency alert.
Austin had not only tried to move money.
May you like
He had gone to the waterfront property himself.
And he was carrying original documents that could either expose Bellamy—or help Bellamy destroy the evidence.
