I followed him. He was alone, leaning against the railing, phone to his ear. I waited until he hung up. "Marcus?" He turned, surprised.
"Yeah?" "I'm Ryan. Sarah's husband." His face went through about five different expressions in two seconds. Surprise, recognition, fear, then forced calm.
"Oh, hey. Nice to finally meet you." He extended his hand. I shook it. Firm grip, eye contact.
"She's told me a lot about you." "All good things, I hope." He laughed. It sounded nervous. "She mentioned you'd be here tonight.
Said you two used to date." "Yeah, a long time ago. Ancient history." "Right, ancient history." I paused, took a sip of my drink.
"Hey, random question. Do you bank at First National?" The color drained from his face, just for a second. But I saw it. "Uh, yeah.
Why?" "I thought I saw you there last Friday. I was in for some paperwork. Small world, right?" "Yeah.
Small world." He was trying to play it cool, but his voice was tight. "I couldn't help but overhear you were moving some money around. Something like 47 grand? That's a big transfer."
His jaw clenched. "That's private." "Of course. I'm not trying to pry, just making conversation." I smiled.
"Must be exciting. Whatever you're saving up for." He didn't respond. Just stared at me. I leaned in slightly, keeping my voice low.
"Here's the thing, Marcus. I know about the apartment. I know about the account. I know about the emails. I know everything."
His face went from pale to red. "I don't know what you're talking about." "Yes, you do." And here's what's going to happen. You're going to walk back into that party, and you're going to avoid my wife for the rest of the night.
You're going to start looking for a new job on Monday, and you're going to disappear from her life. Because if you don't, I'm going to make sure everyone in that ballroom, your boss, her boss, HR, knows exactly what you two have been planning. "You can't prove anything." I pulled out my phone, opened a folder, and showed him screenshots of the emails, the lease, bank records my PI friend had pulled. His face went white again.
"Try me," I said. He didn't say anything, just stood there breathing hard. Finally, he nodded. Once, sharp and quick. "Good talk," I said, and walked back inside.