Chapter 3: The Devil’s Bargain
The diner was neon-lit and smelled of stale coffee. James Vance was sitting in a corner booth. He looked older than I remembered from office parties—exhausted, his tie undone, his eyes hollow.
I sat down. He didn’t offer a greeting. He slid a thick, unmarked envelope across the table. It hit the laminate with a heavy, satisfying thud.
“There is two hundred thousand dollars in there,” he said, his voice flat. “Cash.”
I didn’t touch it. “Why?”
“My wife is carrying your husband’s child,” he said, the words tasting like poison. “She’s delusional. She thinks if she keeps this baby, Mark will leave you and marry her. But Mark is a coward. He’s already told her he won’t leave you until his mother’s trust vests in June. He’s stringing her along for the money.”
I felt a shiver down my spine. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I want him destroyed,” James whispered, leaning forward. “And I want my life back. If you file for divorce now, he has time to prepare, to hide assets, to gaslight you into a bad settlement. Stay. Act like the loving wife. Help me gather the proof of his embezzlement from the firm’s accounts. Once we have enough to ruin him, you take the money, you file, and you walk away with everything.”
He looked at me with cold, calculating eyes. “Do we have a deal?”
May you like
I looked at the envelope. It was my freedom, but it was tainted by revenge. I thought of the ten years of lies. I thought of Mark laughing while I stood in the dark.
“Yes,” I said.
