“Mostly talked. There were usually papers everywhere.”
“Papers?”
She stayed a few hours.
“Yes.”
I remembered the documents in Jack’s jacket.
“Can I see the security footage?”
“I can’t show you hospital surveillance.”
“Then tell me who she was.”
There were usually papers everywhere.
“I don’t know her name.”
After several conversations with hospital staff, I finally saw the footage.
“I’ve never seen her before.”
“She came carrying that folder.”
“How long did she stay?”
Who she was?
“Almost two hours.”
“And that clip?”
“The following day.”
“She’s crying.”
“Yes.”
Two hours.
“Were they alone?”
“Yes.”
“Every time?”
“Claire…”
“Were they?”
She’s crying.
“Mostly.”
I stared at the screen.
For three days, I replayed Jack’s secret drives, hidden papers, and late-night calls.
At two in the morning, I whispered into the darkness, “Were you cheating on me?”
I hated myself for asking a dead man.
Were they alone?
Then someone knocked on my door.
Lucy was coloring at the kitchen table. “Mommy, who’s here?”
“I don’t know, baby.”
I opened the door.
It was her. The woman from the footage.
Were you cheating on me?
She held an envelope against her chest. “Are you Claire?”
“Who are you?”
“My name is Mara.”
“Why were you visiting my husband?”
“Jack asked me to bring you this.”
It was her.
“That wasn’t my question.”
“I know.” She held out the envelope. “He asked me to give this to you only after his death. Not before.”
“What is it?”
