CHAPTER ONE
Piper Young
“You’re not even trying to hide your infidelity,” I mumbled to myself with disgust.
Did my husband, Trey, no longer care what I found on his cell? He still had the same four-digit passcode from years ago. Was he hoping to get caught?
He promised me his philandering was in the past. Was it all a ruse so I’d get pregnant?
His devotion to me, the second we saw the test was positive was everything I desired. I believed the vows he made to me about wanting a family and starting fresh.
Our darling girl, Avery Charlotte Young, was only nine weeks old. Was fatherhood already boring him? How did he even have the energy for an affair?
A queasy sensation filled my gut as I scrolled through the bevy of half-naked photos from Madison, which concealed her face. Who the hell was Madison?
And then it hit me, like a sharp crack across the face. Madison was her last name. Her first name was Harper, and she was our nanny.
CHAPTER TWO
My blood boiled with rage as I marched into my large closet to check more texts from Harper. How far back did this flirtation go? She’d only been working here for a week.
“Piper!” my husband, Trey called from the hallway. “Sweetheart, have you seen my phone?”
“Yeah, I’ve seen it, asshole,” I muttered and scrolled.
Two days! It only took him two days to initiate contact with her.
His first message said:
“Welcome aboard! I can’t tell you how excited I am that you’re working for me. PS I loved the sweater you wore. Blue is a beautiful color on you.”
Good Lord! He texted me the exact same thing after our first date. Get a new line, jerk.
The young, blonde Harper wasted no time responding. Wow! She really laid it on thick, complimenting everything from his voice to his hair, to the way he held our baby.
Tears pricked my eyes as I realized our marriage was a sham. I’d made a mistake, just like my mother. I had a child with a liar, a cheater, someone who never had any intention of changing.
“Piper, there you are,” Trey said in the entryway of my closet. “Didn’t you hear me? I can’t seem to find my phone.”
I tapped the screen and showed him a photo of Harper with that blue sweater, hugging her perky breasts. “I have your phone. You left it on the bathroom sink.”
His eyes grew twice their size. “Hey, that’s not what it looks like. Harper came on to me.”
My voice remained steady, while my insides trembled in anguish. “That’s bullshit and we both know it.”
“Well… it… I…” he stammered. “What are you doing going through my phone?”
“Don’t do that. Don’t turn this around on me. I think you wanted to get caught. You left the phone on the sink, and you’ve never changed your passcode. When I was brushing my teeth, a text came in, I glanced down and it said it was from Madison. Did you really think, considering your history, I wasn’t going to look?”
“You’re right. It was stupid of me.”
“What was stupid? You leaving your cell unattended or texting with our nanny?”
He pressed his lips together, before blowing out a breath. “Texting with our nanny. I swear to you, nothing happened between us. It was harmless. In my defense, it’s been a while since we’ve… been intimate. I sometimes wonder if maybe you aren’t interested in me anymore.”
I closed the gap between us. “You know that’s not true. I’m still trying to shake these baby blues. I’m struggling, Trey, I need you more than ever.”
With hesitation, he grazed my cheek with the back of his hand. “I need you too… in every way.”
“But I haven’t lost the baby weight yet and I just can’t.”
“The doctor gave you the go-ahead three weeks ago.”
I handed him his damn phone. “You’re not hearing me. Look, I’ve got to go. I’m supposed to be at the gallery in an hour.”
“The gallery… that’s your one true love, sweetheart. It isn’t me.”
As I pushed past him, I said, “It’s the only thing keeping me sane.”
“Piper, wait. Aren’t you forgetting something?”
“What?”
“Uh… I’m going to our quarterly meeting in New York. I have to leave for the airport in a few minutes.”
“So,” I replied with a shrug.
“What are you going to do about the baby?”
“I can take Avery with me. It’s no problem.”
“And… Harper?” he asked.
“Oh, she’s out.”
“Do you want me to tell her?”
“No. I told the first nanny she was being let go for stealing and the second one for drinking on the job. I’m getting pretty good at it. When it comes to Harper, kicking her out of my house will be the best part of my day. She is so fired.”
It’s over. Done!