Then came the message that turned betrayal into something darker: Wesley, I think Andrew suspects something. / No way. He's clueless. Probably wouldn't notice if you disappeared tomorrow. / Not yet. I need to handle the money first. Everything's tied up in joint accounts.
Andrew's stomach dropped. She wasn't just cheating. She was planning to cut him out financially, too.
He placed the phone back exactly where it had been and walked into the bathroom, staring at his reflection in the mirror. His eyes looked hollow, aged, as though years had passed in a single night. The man staring back at him wasn't the same one who had walked into that tunnel yesterday. That man had believed in trust, in family, and loyalty. The one looking back now was something else. Broken, yes, but also sharpened.
His phone buzzed on the counter. A message from Tommy: Got some info. We'll talk tomorrow at lunch. Don't lose your cool tonight.
Andrew whispered to himself, voice low and steady, "She thinks I'm boring. She thinks I'm predictable. She has no idea what's coming."
He turned off the light, stepped quietly back into the bedroom, and slid under the covers. Lauren shifted slightly, mumbling in her sleep. Andrew lay wide awake beside her, every nerve burning, already planning his next move.
By noon the next day, Andrew sat across from Tommy in a quiet diner booth. The air smelled of bacon grease and burnt coffee, but the folder Tommy slid across the table snapped him fully awake.
"Take a look," Tommy said.
Inside were photographs: Lauren and Dr. Wesley Grant walking into the Marriott hand in hand, her laughter frozen mid-frame. More shots showed them leaving together, his arm brushing against hers, her face glowing with a joy Andrew hadn't seen directed at him in years. Receipts were stapled to the back. Room charges, dinners, wine. Every detail precise, undeniable.
Andrew clenched his jaw, flipping through the evidence. "It's worse than I thought."
Tommy leaned forward, his voice low. "And there's more. Grant's not just a womanizer, he's under investigation. Medicare billing fraud, falsified patient charts, kickbacks. If Lauren's been helping him, she's in deep."