My heart split open.

“Not today, baby,” I whispered, kissing her curls.

I forced myself out of bed before I could fall apart again. Breakfast had to happen. Lunchboxes had to be packed. Socks had gone missing. One shoe had disappeared completely, somehow ruining two children’s mornings at once.

A few hours later, while I was pouring milk, my phone rang.

Mark—Cole’s coworker. The same man my kids trusted enough to climb on like he was playground equipment.

I lifted the phone to my ear. “Mark, I can’t—”

“Paige,” he interrupted. His voice was tight, controlled, but beneath it I heard the panic. “You need to come here. Now.”

“Where?” I froze mid-pour. “What’s happening?”

“I’m at the office,” he said. “Cole’s in a glass conference room. HR’s here. Darren too.”

My stomach dropped. “What did Cole do?”

Mark paused briefly. “The company card. It got flagged.”

I gripped the edge of the counter. “Flagged for what? I didn’t even know he had access to it.”

“Hotel charges. Expensive gifts. All connected to the trainer from the office gym. Alyssa. She’s technically a vendor through the wellness program, and compliance has been auditing Cole’s expenses for weeks. They didn’t know it was an affair until last night. They just knew he was draining money.”

My stomach twisted.

“The company phone plan caught it first,” Mark continued. “Then the charges lined up with the same dates. They don’t need rumors about romance. They’ve got receipts.”

I closed my eyes. “Why are you telling me this?”

Mark exhaled slowly. “Because Cole thinks he can spin it. He called you ‘emotional.’ Said he could always come back home because he knows how to ‘handle you.’”

I looked at the breakfast table, at my kids wandering around deciding what to do with their day.

“I have six children, Mark. Leah is twelve. I can’t hide something like this from her.”

“I know,” he said quietly. “That’s exactly why you need to come.”

I hit mute.

My youngest tugged gently on my shirt.

“Mommy?”

I crouched down to meet her eyes. “Go sit with your brother for a minute, baby. I’ll be right there, okay?”

She nodded and shuffled off, dragging her stuffed bunny behind her.

I unmuted the call. “Fine. I’m coming.”

I ended the call and immediately dialed Tessa next door. She answered on the first ring.

“I need a favor,” I said.

“I’m already tying my sneakers, Paige,” she replied. “Just go.”

I didn’t bother changing my clothes. I grabbed my purse and keys, kissed each kid on the head, and hurried out the door.

The drive blurred past me. My hands clamped the steering wheel too tightly. My jaw hurt from clenching it. Rage sat in the passenger seat beside me.

**

When I walked through the office lobby, everything felt too perfect—polished floors, quiet voices, a place that pretended problems didn’t exist.

Mark stood waiting near the front desk.

“They pulled the reimbursement reports,” he told me. “Hotel bookings, wellness claims, expensive gifts.”

I swallowed. “All tied to Alyssa?”

“They traced everything back to her vendor profile,” Mark said grimly.

“Texts too?”

“Oh yeah,” he replied. “Expense reports, vendor records, his company phone history. HR has it all.”

He nodded toward the glass conference room.

Inside, Cole was pacing, gesturing with his hands like he was pitching something. HR sat across from him without expression. Darren, the CEO, looked worn out. A VP I’d only seen at holiday parties sat quietly watching like a judge.

Then the door swung open.

Alyssa stormed inside, ponytail swinging, phone in her hand, already raising her voice. She didn’t even knock.

“What is she doing?” I whispered.