The Ritz downtown. Reservation under her maiden name. Discreet. I set the phone down like it means nothing.
"So, you're going to the Ritz?" I say, tone flat. "With Ryan Cooper and Brandon Ellis." Her whole body tightens. She doesn't ask how I know.
She goes straight to offense. "Wow," she says. "Were you going through my phone? That's controlling, Jason. Seriously?"
I ignore the accusation. I pull my own phone out instead. "Let's give them a call," I say. She laughs again, but there's no humor in it.
"Who?"
"The hotel."
I dial and put it on speaker. The line rings twice. "Good evening, Ritz Downtown. How may I assist you?" a woman's voice says.
"Yeah," I say calmly, eyes on Lauren. "I need to cancel a reservation for tonight under the name Lauren Hayes." Her maiden name. The clerk taps keys.
"Yes, I see it here. One executive suite, 8:00 p.m. arrival."
"That's the one," I say. "Go ahead and cancel that. And just so you know, the two married men on that reservation won't be joining."
"Their wives are already aware." There's a small, awkward pause on the other end. "Of course, sir. I'll cancel that now."
"Appreciate it." I hang up. The room is silent except for Lauren's breathing getting faster. "What did you do?" she whispers.
I walk to the bed, pick up the manila envelope I put there an hour before I came home early, and drop it beside her purse. It lands with a thick, solid sound. "What's that?" she asks, but her voice is already shrinking. "Your night," I say.
"And the next few years." She opens it with shaky fingers. The first thing she pulls out is the divorce petition. Her face drains.
"You're divorcing me?" she stammers. I don't answer. She keeps digging. Printed screenshots, page after page.
Her texts with Ryan. With Brandon. With Tara. The laughing, the planning, the lines about me being weak and pathetic and boring.
The Operation Freedom timeline. All of it. "I've been reading along for a while," I say. "Funny thing. Our shared iCloud account syncs to my office iPad."
"You'd be amazed what people will say when they think the guy paying for the devices is too dumb to check." Her phone starts buzzing on the nightstand. She startles. The caller ID flashes.