The Love We Missed Chapter 06

The Love We Missed Chapter 06

Finding out Julian Mercer was sleeping with 

someone else came down to a single detail. 

When we were in bed, his fingertips stopped 

catching on the sheets. 

I reached out and took his hand, tilting his fingers 

toward the bedside lamp. 

The ragged edges were gone. The cuticles were 

pushed back, the nail beds buffed to a dull, clean. 

sheen. 

“What is it?” Julian turned, looking down at me. 

“Your hands,” I said softly. “The edges are rounded 

off. Did you get a manicure?” 

“Oh, that.” 

He slipped his hand free and smiled. “Split a nail 

this morning. Ducked into the barbershop 

downstairs to get it filed. Go back to sleep.” 

He reached over and clicked off the lamp. 

In the dark, his hand rested flat against the pillow. 

Smooth. Clean. Not a single rough edge. 

In seven years of marriage, Julian had only ever used cheap drugstore clippers over the trash can. He used to laugh at men who got manicures, calling it soft. 

A man doesn’t suddenly start paying someone to shape his cuticles on a random Tuesday. 

My friends told me to avoid spooking him. 

But I couldn’t just sit there and play the idiot wife. 

I dropped an audio recorder into the seam of his 

passenger seat. 

Three days later, I pulled the files. 

They weren’t just whispering sweet nothings; they 

were talking shop. 

Headcounts, reviews, promotions. 

The recording was useless in court, but it gave me 

the only thing I needed: a name. 

Vivian Brooks. Twenty–five. 

Young, polished, sharp, and hungry. 

In under three years, Julian went from her mentor to bumping her all the way to finance manager. 

Vivian played her part to absolute perfection. 

“I’m not with you for the money, Julian.” 

“You have a family. I would never ask you to blow 

up your life for me.” 

“I don’t need a ring. Just seeing you at work every 

day is enough.” 

The mistress playbook never changes. 

They claim they want nothing–until they’ve taken 

everything. 

Julian bought every word. He actually felt guilty, 

convinced he was ruining this sweet, selfless girl’s 

life. 

And just like that, I was the bad guy in their grand 

love story. 

Fine by me. I stepped aside. 

Now all she has to do is buy the house, and they 

can have their fairy tale. 

Ten days left on the statutory clock. 

Julian is trapped. He needs a buyer before the 

court date. 

None of his buddies will co–sign a 

1.2–million–dollar mortgage for him. Not after he 

blew up his marriage. 

The only person left who still buys into the fantasy is his clever little manager. 

Add real debt to the mix, and the romance dies. 

Buying the place ties her to him for twenty years. Backing out proves the love was fake. 

Which way does she jump? 

I honestly can’t wait to find out.