“Paige, come up here.”
She laughed and climbed the stairs.
Evan remained perfectly still.
Grant kissed his daughter on the cheek.
“I haven't seen this one nearly enough since she moved away.”
Then he looked at Evan.
“And apparently she brought someone she'd like me to meet.”
Paige glanced toward Evan.
Her smile became shy.
“Dad…”
“Bring him up.”
The crowd began murmuring.
Evan didn't move.
Paige gestured.
“Come on.”
Someone near me whispered, “Isn't that Mercer?”
Evan finally walked toward the stage.
Each step looked painful.
When he climbed the stairs, Grant extended a hand.
“Grant Holloway.”
Evan stared at it.
“Yes, sir. Obviously.”
Paige laughed nervously.
“Evan, you look terrified.”
He was.
Grant kept smiling.
“So. Evan.”
“Yes?”
“My daughter tells me you two have been seeing each other.”
Paige blinked.
“Dad!”
“What? I'm a father. I'm allowed one embarrassing question.”
The crowd laughed.
Evan didn't.
Grant continued.
“How long?”
Paige answered.
“About seven months.”
Seven months.
The number struck me harder than I expected.
Seven months of invented meetings.
Seven months of phone calls in the garage.
Seven months of nights when Sophie asked whether Daddy would make it home before bedtime.
Grant nodded.
“And what exactly did Evan tell you about his personal life?”
Evan's head snapped toward him.
“Sir, I don't think—”
“I wasn't asking you.”
The atmosphere changed instantly.
Paige frowned.
“He's divorced.”
Silence spread outward from the stage.
My heartbeat seemed unbearably loud.
Grant tilted his head.
“Divorced?”
Paige looked at Evan.
“Well... separated. Basically divorced.”
Evan whispered something I couldn't hear.
Grant lifted the microphone again.
“That's interesting.”
Then he turned toward me.
“Brooke?”
Evan closed his eyes.
It was over.
I walked forward.
People moved aside.
My heels clicked against the stone steps as I joined them onstage.
Paige stared at me.
“Who is she?”
Grant handed me the microphone.
I didn't take it.
I didn't need amplification.
“My name is Brooke Mercer.”
Paige looked from me to Evan.
Then back.
I continued.
“Evan and I celebrated our eleventh wedding anniversary four months ago.”
Her face emptied.
“No.”
“We share a house.”
“No.”
“We share bank accounts.”
She took one step backward.
“And we have an eight-year-old daughter named Sophie.”
Paige's eyes filled instantly.
She turned toward Evan.
“You said she left you.”
He looked around desperately.
“Paige, listen—”
“You said you hadn't lived together in almost a year.”
“It's complicated.”
I almost laughed.
The same phrase.
Different woman.
Same lie.
Paige shook her head.
“You told me the divorce paperwork was delayed because she was fighting over money.”
My stomach twisted.
Evan looked at me.
“Brooke, I can explain.”
“No, you can't.”
“I made mistakes.”
“Seven months isn't a mistake.”
People in the crowd had gone completely silent.
Evan lowered his voice.
“Can we not do this publicly?”
Paige stared at him.
“You introduced me to people tonight as your wife.”
“I was trying to avoid questions.”
“What questions?”
“Paige—”
“What questions, Evan?”
Grant stepped between them.
“Perhaps questions like why one of my directors has been using supposed business travel to conduct an a.f.f.a.i.r with my daughter while lying to both women involved.”
Evan froze.
“You knew?”
Grant's expression turned cold.
“I learned approximately forty minutes ago.”
Paige looked stunned.
“You didn't know he was married?”
Grant pointed toward me.
“She arrived here and introduced herself as Evan's wife.”
Paige covered her mouth.
“Oh my God.”
I could see the truth landing.
She wasn't my enemy.
She was another person Evan had built a fictional life around.
Paige turned toward me.
“I swear I didn't know.”
“I believe you.”
Evan looked horrified.
Perhaps because he had expected us to fight each other.
That would have been easier for him.
Two angry women blaming each other instead of looking at the man who had deceived both.
Paige wiped her eyes.
“He told me you cheated on him.”
I felt something inside me go cold.
“He told you what?”
“He said that's why the marriage ended.”
Evan stepped toward us.
“Everybody needs to calm down.”
Paige recoiled.
“Don't touch me.”
“I was going to tell you.”
“When?”
“I needed time.”
“For what?”
He had no answer.
Then, perhaps realizing he had lost her, Evan made the worst possible choice.
He turned toward me.
“Brooke, come on. You know I love you.”
Paige stared at him.
I almost couldn't believe it.
“You brought another woman here as your wife and now you're telling me you love me?”
“It got out of control.”
Paige laughed once through her tears.
“Out of control?”
Evan looked increasingly desperate.
“What Paige and I had wasn't serious.”
Her face changed.
I watched whatever sadness remained turn into anger.
“Seven months wasn't serious?”
“That's not what I meant.”
“No,” she said. “I think that's exactly what you meant.”
She removed a thin bracelet from her wrist.
I recognized it immediately.
I had seen the charge for it on our credit-card statement three months earlier.
Evan had told me it was a client gift.
Paige dropped it into his hand.
“We're done.”
Then she walked off the stage.
Evan called her name.
Grant stepped into his path.
“Don't.”
Evan looked at him.
“Sir—”
