Version 1
The envelope remained in Noah’s hand.
Ethan stared at it as if it were a weapon.
“What is that?” Lila whispered.
Noah didn’t answer her.
He looked at his father.
“You told everyone Mom was your mistake,” he said. “But you forgot that you made another mistake when you left.”
Ethan swallowed.
“Noah, go back to your mother.”
“No.”
The single word echoed through the ballroom.
A few guests shifted uncomfortably.
Noah opened the envelope.
Inside was a folded sheet of paper and a small USB drive.
Ethan’s eyes locked onto the drive.
“Where did you get that?”
Noah looked confused.
“Mom gave it to me.”
I hadn’t.
My heart began pounding.
“Noah…”
He turned toward me.
“It’s okay, Mom. You said I should keep it safe.”
I suddenly remembered.
Three weeks earlier, while cleaning out the old house, Noah had found a box of documents Ethan had left behind.
I had told him not to touch anything.
But apparently, he’d found something I hadn’t seen.
Ethan stepped down from the stage.
“Give me that.”
Noah stepped backward.
“You don’t get to take it.”
The room had become completely silent.
Then the ballroom doors opened.
Two women walked inside.
One carried a leather folder.
The other was a lawyer.
Ethan stopped breathing.
The lawyer looked directly at him.
“Mr. Carter?”
Ethan’s face went pale.
“Yes?”
“My name is Rachel Morgan. I represent your former wife.”
I stared at her.
I had never met her before.
She handed me the folder.
“You should have received this yesterday, but your ex-husband’s attorney requested additional time.”
Ethan suddenly shouted, “This is inappropriate!”
Rachel didn’t even blink.
“No. What’s inappropriate is withholding financial records during a divorce proceeding.”
A murmur spread through the room.
Lila looked at Ethan.
“What is she talking about?”
He didn’t answer.
The lawyer opened the folder.
“Mr. Carter, we discovered several transfers from the marital account into a private investment account shortly before the divorce.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“And we discovered something else.”
She placed a photograph on the table.
It showed Ethan standing outside a hotel.
With Lila.
Months before he had admitted their affair.
My stomach dropped.
Noah looked at his father.
“You lied to Mom.”
Ethan stared at him.
“I didn’t—”
“You did.”
Noah held up the USB drive.
“And there’s more.”
Ethan suddenly lunged toward him.
I grabbed Noah and pulled him behind me.
The lawyer immediately stepped between us.
“Don’t touch that child.”
Ethan froze.
For the first time that night, nobody was laughing.
Noah looked up at me.
Then he whispered:
“Mom… should I give her the last recording too?”
My blood ran cold.
Because I had no idea what recording he was talking about.
And judging by Ethan’s face…
neither did I.
If you want to discover what Noah found on that recording—and why Ethan was terrified of it—comment “YES” for Part 3.
