Chapter 5 - EMILY'S REAL GAME
I stared at the photograph for nearly a minute.
Victor Lang represented Brighton Development.
My firm represented three families suing Brighton over a collapsed apartment structure.
The case was worth millions.
And Emily knew details about it.
Details I had carelessly discussed during our weekends together.
I called her.
She answered on the fourth ring.
"What?"
"Why were you meeting Victor Lang?"
Silence.
Then she laughed.
"Now you care about honesty?"
"Answer me."
"You don't get to interrogate me."
"This concerns a confidential case."
"And your affair concerned your pregnant wife."
She hung up.
I called Marcus.
Within an hour, we were reviewing every message I had ever exchanged with Emily.
The deeper we looked, the worse it became.
She had repeatedly asked about my work.
Which witnesses mattered.
Whether settlement negotiations were going well.
Which expert report worried us.
At the time, I had mistaken curiosity for affection.
Now every question looked different.
Marcus stared at me.
"Did you send her documents?"
"No."
"Photographs?"
"No."
"Emails?"
"No."
"Did you discuss privileged information?"
I felt my stomach twist.
"Possibly."
"Daniel."
"I never gave her client names that weren't already public."
"That's not what I asked."
I stood and walked toward the window.
"I talked."
Marcus swore under his breath.
For the next two days, my firm conducted an internal review.
I voluntarily removed myself from the Brighton case.
I told the managing partners everything.
Not the polished version.
Everything.
The affair.
The hotel.
The conversations.
The possibility that Emily had been gathering information.
The managing partner, Elaine Foster, listened without interruption.
When I finished, she folded her hands.
"You understand how serious this is."
"Yes."
"You may have compromised our clients."
"I know."
"And this firm."
"I know."
She stared at me.
"You're suspended pending investigation."
I nodded.
I deserved worse.
When I reached the parking garage, Clara was waiting beside my car.
My heart jumped.
She wore a loose blue maternity dress.
Her face was pale but calmer.
"What are you doing here?"
"Marcus called Rachel."
I looked away.
"He shouldn't have."
"He was worried."
Clara studied me.
"What happened?"
I told her.
All of it.
When I finished, she shook her head.
"Did Emily use you?"
"Maybe."
Clara's expression didn't change.
I almost wanted her to smile.
To enjoy seeing me betrayed.
She didn't.
Instead she said, "That doesn't make what you did to me less real."
"I know."
"And if she manipulated you, you still made your own choices."
"I know."
She looked surprised.
Months earlier, I would have defended myself.
Now there was nothing left worth defending.
"I need something from you," Clara said.
"Anything."
"Stop telling Rachel you're going to win me back."
My face burned.
"I only said—"
"I am not a prize."
She stepped closer.
"I'm deciding what my life looks like after this."
I nodded.
"Okay."
"And when the baby comes, I want you there."
Hope hit me too quickly.
Then Clara continued.
"As her father."
Not as my husband.
The distinction was deliberate.
Painful.
Fair.
"I understand."
She started walking away.
"Clara."
She stopped.
"I bought your ring back."
Her shoulders stiffened.
"I haven't brought it because I know you don't want it."
She turned slowly.
"Keep it."
"I will."
"Not because I'm promising anything."
"I know."
She looked at me for several seconds.
Then she left.
Three days later, the internal investigation found something unexpected.
Emily had never worked for Brighton Development.
May you like
But her brother did.
And suddenly, investigators wanted to know whether my affair had been planned from the beginning.
