Chapter 1 - THE MESSAGE ANDREW NEVER ANSWERED
“Andrew, you can’t do that!”
Kayla’s voice came out so loud that even I jumped.
Andrew didn’t.
He stood calmly beside the kitchen counter with his coffee untouched and his phone in his hand.
“Yes,” he said. “I can.”
Then he handed the phone to me.
Kayla moved toward us.
Andrew stepped between us.
“Don’t.”
That single word stopped her.
I looked down at the screen.
At first, I didn’t understand what I was seeing.
Then my stomach dropped.
It was a text conversation.
Except it wasn’t really a conversation.
Nearly every message came from Kayla.
The first had arrived four nights earlier.
You awake?
Andrew hadn’t answered.
The next morning:
Sorry about the towel thing. Unless you secretly liked it lol.
No response.
Two nights later:
Amanda goes to bed early. You must get bored.
Still nothing from Andrew.
Then:
You’re seriously loyal, huh?
Andrew had finally answered.
One message.
Kayla, stop texting me privately like this. It is inappropriate. Amanda will see anything else you send.
My fingers went cold.
Because Kayla had replied anyway.
Maybe don’t show her until you know what you’d be turning down.
I slowly raised my eyes.
Kayla’s face was bright red.
“You went through my phone?”
Andrew almost laughed.
“You sent them to mine.”
“I was joking.”
“No,” he said. “You were testing whether I’d hide something from my wife.”
He nodded toward the phone in my hand.
“So I ran my own test.”
Kayla folded her arms.
“What test?”
“I gave you one direct boundary.”
His voice remained frighteningly calm.
“I told you to stop. I told you Amanda would see the next message.”
He pointed at the screen.
“You sent three more.”
I scrolled.
The next one was a mirror selfie.
Fully dressed, but posed deliberately.
Then:
She doesn’t have to know everything.
And finally, at 1:14 that morning:
You wouldn’t be the first husband to fail.
My heart seemed to stop.
I read that sentence twice.
Then a third time.
Kayla saw where I was looking.
Her expression changed.
Not embarrassment anymore.
Fear.
I looked at her.
“What does that mean?”
“Nothing.”
“Kayla.”
“It was a joke.”
Andrew’s eyes narrowed.
“That doesn’t sound like a joke.”
I held the phone tighter.
“You said he wouldn’t be the first husband to fail.”
Kayla suddenly grabbed her coffee.
“I’m not doing this.”
She turned toward the stairs.
I followed.
“Yes, you are.”
She stopped.
For several seconds, her shoulders didn’t move.
Then she looked back.
And something about her face scared me more than the texts.
Because she wasn’t ashamed.
She was angry that she’d been caught.
“You really want to know?” she said.
“Yes.”
Her mouth twisted.
“Then call Evan.”
Her ex-boyfriend.
The man she claimed had thrown her out because he suddenly decided he didn’t love her anymore.
May you like
Kayla looked directly at me.
“Ask him why he actually ended things.”
