Chapter 13 - THE WOMAN BEHIND THE SECOND PHONE
Rebecca was furious when I told her Lauren had come to my house.
"Do not meet her privately."
"I didn't."
"Good."
"She says Ryan has another woman."
Rebecca paused.
"That may matter in your divorce, but right now the documents and your children's well-being are more important."
I agreed.
Still, the name stayed in my head.
Victoria.
I searched old messages.
Ryan's contact lists.
Photographs from family events.
Nothing.
Then Rachel remembered a woman who had attended Ryan's company Christmas party three years earlier.
"Her name might have been Victoria."
I stared at her.
"Are you sure?"
"No."
She frowned.
"But I remember Ryan introducing her as a consultant."
I looked through photographs from that party.
It took nearly an hour.
Then I found her.
A woman in a black dress stood near the edge of a group picture.
Tall.
Blonde.
Smiling faintly.
Ryan stood several feet away.
Nothing in the photograph proved an affair.
But when I sent it to Lauren, she responded almost immediately.
THAT'S HER.
A second message followed.
SHE TOLD RYAN WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE DOCUMENT.
I stared at the screen.
I called Rebecca.
She listened carefully.
Then she asked me to send the messages without responding to Lauren.
"Let me handle any formal inquiries," she said.
A week later, Rebecca learned that Ryan's company had previously retained an independent consultant named Victoria Hayes.
Her work concerned records management and compliance.
I felt my stomach twist.
"Medical records?"
"Not necessarily."
"Then what?"
"Information systems and document processes."
I stared at my attorney.
"Do you think she helped falsify the report?"
Rebecca shook her head.
"We don't know that."
I looked down at my hands.
"Everything keeps pointing toward Ryan."
"Then we continue collecting evidence."
That afternoon, I received another message from Lauren.
I NEED TO SEE YOU.
I didn't answer.
Five minutes later, she sent a photograph.
It showed Ryan entering a hotel lobby beside Victoria.
The date stamp was from the previous evening.
I stared at the screen.
The photograph should have broken my heart.
Instead, I felt strangely empty.
Lauren called.
I answered.
"How did you get this?"
"I followed him."
I closed my eyes.
"Lauren, stop doing that."
She began crying.
"He told me he loved me."
I looked out the window.
"Yes."
"He said I was different."
I didn't answer.
"He said you never understood him."
I almost laughed.
Those had probably been the same words he used about every woman.
Lauren whispered, "I thought I was special."
I closed my eyes.
"So did I."
There was a long silence.
Then she said something I hadn't expected.
"Annie, I'm sorry."
I gripped the phone.
For thirteen months, she had defended herself.
Blamed me.
Mocked me.
Demanded that I accept her happiness.
Now her voice sounded small.
"I'm sorry for what I did to you."
I stared at the wall.
"I don't know what to do with that."
"I know."
She began crying again.
Then she whispered, "But there's something else."
My stomach tightened.
"What?"
"I found a photograph in Ryan's office."
I closed my eyes.
"Of Victoria?"
"No."
May you like
Her voice dropped.
"Of your mother."
