Chapter 3

My heart sank into a cold abyss.

Who was he calling? If it was work, why hide from me?

If it was Eric, why was he whispering?

The call ended quickly.

The moment Sergio turned around, I slipped back to the kitchen and pretended to wipe down the counter.

"Scarlett, what movie do you want to watch tonight?" Sergio walked out, looking relaxed. "I saw some new releases on Netflix."

"Whatever you want," I said. "You choose."

That night, we snuggled on the couch just like we always did.

My head rested on his shoulder, his arm wrapped around my waist. It felt intimate and safe.

But I didn't process a single scene of the movie.

My mind was consumed by the pink scrunchie, the adjusted seat, and that whispered phone call.

At 2:00 AM, Sergio was fast asleep, his breathing heavy and steady.

I quietly slipped out of bed and picked up his phone.

Using his face ID while he slept, I unlocked it. We had always shared our passcodes—it was supposed to be a symbol of our trust.

His call history looked perfectly normal. Just clients, friends, and family.

His messages seemed fine too. The most recent thread was planning a game night with Eric and discussing a project with a colleague.

I scrolled back to Tuesday night.

At 8:30 PM, he had sent a voice note to Eric: "Are you free tomorrow?"

Eric replied: "What's up?"

Sergio: "I have a project I want to pitch to you."

Eric: "Sure. My car is getting serviced anyway, pick me up."

The conversation seemed normal. The timeline matched.

But my heart was still hammering.

Because when I played the voice note and heard Sergio's voice, his tone was far more formal than how he usually talked to his best friend. It sounded... rehearsed. Like he was put on the spot.

Then, I scrolled further down. I saw a system notification in a Snapchat thread.

"You cleared a chat."

The chat had been cleared today at 6:00 PM, right before he picked me up.

The name of the contact was hidden or deleted.

I stared at the screen, my fingers trembling.

Why delete it? What was in that chat? Who was he talking to?

"Scarlett?" Sergio's groggy voice suddenly startled me from behind.

I froze, almost dropping the phone.

"Why are you awake?" Sergio asked, rubbing his eyes. "What are you looking at?"

"I... I wanted to check something," I lied quickly, locking the screen. "I suddenly remembered I needed to prep some lesson plans for tomorrow."

"Can't you use your own phone?" Sergio asked. There was a subtle, sharp edge of suspicion in his voice.

"My battery is dead."

I handed his phone back to him. "I'll just use my laptop. Go back to sleep."

Sergio took the phone, giving me a look that made my skin crawl.

He didn't say anything. He just nodded. "Don't stay up too late." He turned back into the bedroom.

I sat in the dark living room, listening to the pounding of my own chest.

From that moment on, a wall of secrets stood between Sergio and me.

He had his secrets, and I had my suspicions.

And our home was slowly turning into a stranger's house.

The next morning, Sergio left for work as usual.

He kissed me goodbye and told me he'd be home early. I smiled, waved, and watched his car pull out of the driveway.

The second the elevator doors closed, I pulled out my phone.

Texting Eric would be too obvious, so I messaged Jenna instead.

Jenna and I had always been close.

"Hey Jenna! Are you guys free this weekend? It's been too long, let's grab dinner," I texted.

Jenna replied almost instantly. "Omg yes! I miss you guys. Let me know the time and place, and I'll tell Eric."

"By the way," I probed casually, "did Eric get his car fixed? Sergio mentioned his transmission blew."