Page 25 of What Happened Last Night

I slipped the cellphone back into the drawer, being sure to put it back in the same spot even though I knew William hadn’t been the one to put it there. It was just force of habit to make sure he never noticed any snooping I might do.

I stood up and pulled out my own cellphone and slipped into the corridor, closing the door quietly behind me. Part of me was tempted to slam it shut loudly. Why should William get to lie there, sleeping peacefully while my fucking life was falling apart because he couldn’t keep his dick in his pants? I already knew the answer to that question. If he woke up now, he would see something in my face, something that told him more than I wanted him to know. I didn’t want him to know I had seen the messages. I couldn’t bear to have this fight with him again. I had to get my anger and hurt under control before he woke up so that I could just continue to pretend I was this stupid and clueless.

I found the number for William’s secretary and pressed Call. At least I was confident he wasn’t sleeping with her. She was ten years older than me, and she was happily married with three children. There’s no way he would try to go there. She wouldn’t stroke his ego. She would reject him and make him feel worse about himself.

“William Alden’s office, Juliette speaking,” William’s secretary said, taking my call.

“Hi, Juliette. It’s Carlotta,” I said. “I’m just calling to let you know that William has been in an accident. He’s in the hospital. It’s going to be a couple of weeks before he can return to work.”

“Oh, my goodness, Carlotta, I’m so sorry to hear that,” Juliette said. “Is Mr. Alden all right?”

“Yes,” I said. “He has a broken wrist and he’s been told to rest, but yeah, it could have been a whole lot worse.”

“I’m glad it’s not serious. I’ll see that the CEO is informed. Thanks for calling in,” Juliette said.

“Thank you,” I said and hung up the call.

I was suddenly aware that as William’s personal secretary, Juliette knew everything about his diary. While she might not have been sleeping with him herself, she sure as hell knew he was cheating on me. I got why she didn’t tell me. Her loyalty was to William, not me. But I couldn’t help but wonder how she saw me. Does she laugh at me behind my back, thinking me too stupid to see what’s going on in my own marriage? Or does she pity me, knowing I know what William is up to and yet I stay with him, anyway?

I didn’t know, and to be honest, I wasn’t sure which option was worse. I stood in the corridor for a moment, trying to stop thinking about all of this shit, and once more, I started to feel guilty. I mean, sure, William cheated on me. But I was the one who put him even further into the line of fire with the police. I knew that no matter what William had done to me, I had to fix that.

I decided to go back into William’s room and take his cellphone and smash it. When the police asked about it, I would just say it got broken beyond repair in the accident, and that would mean they could never recover any data from it. I nodded to myself, confirming my plan in my head, and I headed back into William’s room.

When I went in, he was awake again, sitting up, his cellphone in his hand. His face went dark red as he saw me coming into the room. I knew that look. It was the look I was wearing moments ago in the corridor. It was the look of a person with a guilty conscience. I knew instantly that William was checking his messages from The Blonde Honey and whichever other unsuspecting girls he had found on the website.

You absolute bastard, I thought to myself.

That did it. There was no way I was smashing the cellphone now. I was right the first time. He might not deserve prison, but he as sure as hell deserved to be caught out for cheating on me yet again.

“I–I ... umm ... I was just about to call the office and let them know what’s happened,” William said after a moment, his face still red.

Yeah, that’s believable, considering how long it took you to think it up, I thought to myself.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve just gotten off the phone with Juliette. She’s going to let the CEO know what’s happening,” I said.

“Great, thank you,” William said.

He went back to looking at the screen on his cellphone, seemingly happy to ignore me once more now that I had served my purpose. He began to tap on the keys. The sheer fucking audacity of him. He was messaging some little online slut while I was sitting right there.

Suddenly, I was no longer in the mood to play the role of the doting wife anymore. I stood up abruptly, and William actually managed to tear his eyes off his cellphone’s screen long enough to look up at me as I glowered at him.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing,” I lied. “I’ve seen the time, and visiting hours are over. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I hurried out of the room before William had a chance to consider my words and remind me that he was in a private room so I could stay as late as I liked.

Chapter Fourteen

Jamie

“You’re cutting it fine, Detective.” Sharon laughed as I stepped into the foyer at the coroner’s office.

“I think you’ll find that’s called right on time and prompt and efficient, Sharon.” I smiled. “Also known as there was more traffic than I anticipated, and I made it here by the skin of my teeth.”

Sharon smiled at my honesty.

“Well you haven’t missed much. Dr. Karloff is just getting started,” she said. “Go on through. You know where you’re going, right?”

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