Three Years Protecting His Secret Love… Until His Wife Finally Disappeared Chapter 01

Three Years Protecting His Secret Love… Until His Wife Finally Disappeared Chapter 01

Because his mistress had once said she hated how condoms felt, Graham Sinclair booked a vasectomy that very night.

Before he was put under general anesthesia, he unlocked his phone in front of me for the first time.

“Passcode’s 010208. Look through whatever you want.”

“But when I’m out of surgery, the divorce papers will be waiting for you.”

He slipped in his wireless earbuds. When he spoke again, his voice was all tenderness.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. It’s a minor procedure.”

“You know all my card PINs and the safe combination. If anyone gives you trouble while I’m in surgery, that money is your safety net.”

At the word anyone, he gave me a brief, pointed look.

After I first discovered Graham’s affair three years ago, I became obsessed with tracking down the other woman. I followed him, took pictures, and chased every lead I could find.

For a long time, the only concrete financial trail I could find was a recurring tuition payment.

He made sure everything else was much harder to trace.

When I still said nothing, Graham began to lose patience.

“Elise Bennett, you’ve been at this for three years. Maybe you’re not tired, but I am.”

“When I wake up, can you finally let me go?”

The staff began getting him ready for surgery, and I calmly locked the phone he had handed me away in one of the hospital lockers.

What Graham didn’t know was that the crash he’d arranged just a week earlier to punish me for finding his mistress’s address hadn’t just put me in the ICU for seven full days. It had also cost me our only child.

He wasn’t the only one tired of this game of cat and mouse.

***

The moment Graham realized I was actually contacting a lawyer, his expression hardened. He immediately turned to his assistant.

“Put another team on Elise. I want every move she makes monitored.”

“And suspend her from her position as Director of Operations for now.”

His voice went cold.

“Playing hard to get won’t work on me.”

“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re trying to pull. Some people are off-limits to you.”

A staff member approached with the pre-op checklist.

“Mr. Sinclair, I just need to confirm a few final details before surgery. When was the last time you ate or drank anything?”

He frowned, but before he could answer, I did.

“He hasn’t eaten in eight hours or had anything to drink in three.”

“Any medication allergies?”

“Penicillin. It caused a rash before.”

The staff member asked several more questions. I answered them one after another while Graham watched me the entire time, his expression unreadable.

“Mr. Sinclair, your wife really looks out for you.”

“My wife?” He scoffed. “Not for much longer.”

“Knowing every last detail about my life won’t change anything.”

Once, I would have lost it and demanded to know what his mistress had that I didn’t.

Now I said nothing.

Not long after, they took Graham into surgery.

I collected myself and picked up the overnight bag from the corner. It had held a change of clothes and my toiletries, but the moment I lifted it, the bag felt much lighter than it should have.

I opened it and found it completely empty.

His assistant came over, looking uncomfortable.

“Mrs. Sinclair, Mr. Sinclair ordered us to throw out everything in the bag.”

“He was worried you might… bring something into the hospital you shouldn’t.”

I let go of the bag and almost laughed.

How paranoid did he have to be to have even a few changes of clothes searched and thrown out?

I tossed the empty bag away, took a deep breath, and dropped Graham’s phone into the trash too.

The moment I stepped outside the hospital, Tessa Morgan texted me.

Tessa: [Girl! I heard Graham handed over his phone and actually let you go through it.]

Tessa: [He’s kept her hidden for three years. Did he finally grow a conscience?]

I was exhausted.

Me: [He just can’t be bothered to pretend anymore.]

Tessa went quiet for a while.

Tessa: [Are we still digging? Camille should be back in the States by now.]

Camille Vale was the woman Graham had protected for three years.

She studied finance at Northbridge University. During her master’s program, Graham arranged for her to spend two years studying abroad.

When she returned to Northbridge, she started an internship at Sinclair Group.

He thought he had hidden her well, but I had already uncovered plenty.

For three years, I had kept trying to disprove the fact that Graham no longer loved me, only to prove it all over again.

This time, I was done wasting my time on him.

Me: [No. I’m done.]