Chapter 3 - The Access Record That Should Not Exist
The security officer stood in the middle of the hallway holding a printed report.
Everyone was watching.
But I wasn't looking at him.
I was looking at Wesley.
Because the expression on his face told me one thing.
He already knew what was on that paper.
"Dr. Carver," the officer said carefully. "I need you to confirm this access record."
Wesley didn't move.
The officer looked uncomfortable.
"Sir?"
Finally, Wesley reached out and took the paper.
His eyes moved across the page.
Then stopped.
I watched the color disappear from his face.
"What is it?" I asked.
He folded the paper slightly.
Too quickly.
Like he wanted to hide it.
"Nothing."
I almost laughed.
Nothing.
That word had become the easiest lie people told when they were trying to protect something.
"Nothing made you look like that?"
Wesley looked at me.
"Emma, please."
Again.
Please.
I hated that word now.
Because every time he said it, I felt like he wasn't asking me to understand.
He was asking me to stop searching.
The security officer looked between us.
"I apologize, Dr. Carver. I didn't realize this would involve..."
He stopped.
"Involve what?" I asked.
Nobody answered.
Evelyn looked at the report.
Her face had changed.
The confidence was gone.
For the first time since I saw her, she looked afraid.
That scared me more than anything.
Because if Evelyn Hart, the woman who walked into my husband's office like she owned it, was afraid...
then whatever was written on that paper was bigger than I understood.
"Wesley."
He folded the report.
"Not here."
I stared at him.
"Where then?"
His eyes moved toward his office.
"Inside."
I didn't move.
"With her?"
Evelyn looked down.
Wesley took a breath.
"No."
He looked at Evelyn.
"You need to leave."
Her expression hardened.
"After everything?"
"Not now."
"You promised me."
The hallway became silent.
My chest tightened.
Promised her?
Those two words hurt more than I expected.
I looked at my husband.
"What did you promise her?"
Wesley didn't answer.
Evelyn picked up her bag.
She looked at me.
Not with anger.
Not with victory.
With something closer to guilt.
"I never wanted you to find out this way."
I felt my fingers go cold.
"Find out what?"
She opened her mouth.
But Wesley interrupted.
"Enough."
She looked at him.
"You don't get to hide forever."
Then she walked away.
I watched her disappear toward the elevators.
The entire time, Wesley didn't look at her.
He only looked at me.
And that somehow felt worse.
Because I wasn't looking at a man caught in a lie.
I was looking at a man who had been waiting for the lie to be discovered.
We entered his office.
The door closed behind us.
For the first time in eleven years, I felt like I was entering a stranger's room.
I stood near his desk.
The same desk where he had answered work calls during our anniversary dinner.
The same desk where he had written research papers while I waited for him to come to bed.
The same desk where he had hidden something with my name on it.
"Open the folder."
Wesley looked at me.
"Emma."
"Open it."
His shoulders dropped.
Slowly, he reached into the drawer.
But before he opened it, I noticed something.
His hands were shaking.
Wesley's hands never shook.
Those hands performed surgeries.
Those hands were trusted by hundreds of patients.
But right now...
they were terrified.
He pulled out the folder.
The label on the front was simple.
EMMA CARVER.
My full name.
I stared at it.
"How long have you had this?"
He didn't answer.
"How long?"
"Three years."
The room felt smaller.
"Three years?"
He nodded.
"Why?"
He looked down.
"Because I was trying to protect you."
I looked at him.
"No."
My voice surprised even me.
"No, Wesley. You were protecting yourself."
He didn't argue.
That hurt more.
I opened the folder.
The first page was a document.
A medical report.
But not mine.
I read the name at the top.
My heart stopped.
It wasn't Emma Carver.
It was another woman.
Evelyn Hart.
I looked up.
"What does she have to do with this?"
Wesley remained silent.
I flipped the page.
There were hospital records.
Dates.
Signatures.
Confidential notes.
And one phrase repeated several times.
"Identity verification pending."
I looked at him.
"What is this?"
He sat down.
For a moment, he looked older.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
"I met Evelyn six years ago."
The words landed between us.
Six years.
Five years after we got married.
"Where?"
"At St. Alden."
I laughed softly.
"So she was your patient?"
"No."
The answer came too quickly.
"Then what?"
He looked away.
"She was involved in a case."
"What case?"
He didn't respond.
I closed the folder.
"No more half-truths."
Wesley looked at me.
"I need you to understand something."
"What?"
"The woman downstairs wasn't pretending to be your wife because she wanted my life."
I stared.
"Then why?"
His eyes moved to the folder.
"Because someone else told her to."
The room went silent.
"Who?"
He didn't answer.
That was when I noticed the small black object sitting beside his computer.
A USB drive.
Different from anything I had seen before.
I pointed at it.
"What is that?"
Wesley immediately stood.
Too fast.
"Don't touch that."
I looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because it's not safe."
A cold feeling moved through me.
"Not safe?"
He looked toward the closed office door.
"Emma, listen to me. You need to go home."
I almost couldn't believe him.
"You're telling me to leave?"
"Yes."
"After another woman walked into your office using your badge?"
"Yes."
"After you kept a file with my name on it for three years?"
His silence answered.
I stepped closer.
"What are you hiding?"
Wesley looked at me.
And for the first time in our marriage...
I saw fear.
Real fear.
"Someone has been watching us."
The words made my stomach drop.
"Who?"
"I don't know."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"I didn't know how close they were."
"Who are they, Wesley?"
He ran a hand through his hair.
"Emma..."
"No."
I shook my head.
"I spent eleven years defending you. I told people you were just busy. I told myself your secrets were about work. I told myself every strange phone call had an explanation."
My voice became quieter.
"But now another woman knows your office better than I do."
Wesley looked down.
And that was when I saw it.
A small envelope sticking out from beneath his desk.
I hadn't noticed it before.
It was old.
Yellowed.
My name was written across the front.
Not printed.
Handwritten.
I reached for it.
Wesley grabbed my wrist.
"Don't."
I looked at his hand.
Then at his face.
"What is inside?"
His grip loosened.
His voice became almost a whisper.
"The truth about the first person who ever used my badge."
I pulled my hand away.
"Who was it?"
Wesley didn't answer.
Because his phone suddenly vibrated.
He looked at the screen.
His face changed.
Not fear this time.
Shock.
I watched him read the message.
Then he slowly turned the phone toward me.
One sentence appeared on the screen.
A message from an unknown number.
"You still haven't told your wife what happened to Sarah."
I looked at Wesley.
"Who is Sarah?"
He didn't respond.
The office lights flickered.
Then the computer monitor turned on by itself.
A video file appeared on the screen.
The title was:
"FOR EMMA."
May you like
Wesley stepped back.
And the video started playing...
