He Flaunted His Mistress; I Vanished Forever

2: 2

The next morning, Jeffrey was up early.

When I carried the fried eggs and toast out of the kitchen, he was standing in front of the full-length mirror, knotting his tie.

"Your tie's crooked." I walked over, reaching to fix it the way I always did.

He turned slightly, away from my hand.

"I've got it." His tone was flat as he retied the Windsor knot in the mirror.

My hand hung in the air a second, then dropped.

"Come eat." I turned back toward the table.

Jeffrey glanced at his watch.

"I'll skip it. There's an important item on the agenda at the morning meeting. I need to get in early to prep."

He crossed to the entryway and picked up his car keys.

"Aren't you dropping off the quarterly reports at headquarters today? If it's on your way, bring me the blue folder off the desk in the study."

He assigned it as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Fine." I pulled out a chair, sat, and calmly took a bite of toast.

Jeffrey changed his shoes and opened the door.

"Drive safe." He left the words behind without a trace of warmth and shut the door.

The apartment went quiet.

I finished breakfast and washed the dishes.

Took the folder, and left.

The company headquarters sat in the downtown business district, taking up three floors of an office tower.

I worked at the branch out in the suburbs, and rarely had reason to come here.

The receptionist swiped me through with a guest badge, and I headed for the elevator.

I pushed open the door to Jeffrey's office.

No one inside.

I set the folder on his desk, and I was about to leave when a framed photo beside it caught my eye.

It held a picture of the two of them.

Jeffrey, in casual clothes, standing beneath a cherry blossom tree.

A girl stood beside him.

She wore a white dress, smiling sweetly, both hands looped affectionately around his arm.

On those hands was a delicate French manicure.

I stood there and looked at the photo.

The picture was new. The frame was new too.

And in the home we shared, Jeffrey had never once allowed a single photo of us on display.

He said he didn't like putting his private life out where people could see it, and he hated the idea of the place looking as tacky as a photo studio.

He just didn't want a photo of me.

"Who are you? Why are you wandering into Mr. Gilbert's office?"

A woman's voice came from behind me.

I turned around.

A girl in a business suit stood in the doorway, two cups of coffee in her hands.

She was very pretty, with soft features, exactly the girl from the photo.

Eugenia Fox.

Jeffrey's junior from college. She'd started at headquarters half a month ago, as his personal assistant.

"I'm from admin at the branch. Christina Henson. I'm here to drop off some documents for Mr. Gilbert."

My eyes went to the hand holding the coffee.

Around her wrist, the silver couple's bracelet swayed a little with her movements.

Eugenia followed my gaze down to her own wrist, and the corner of her mouth curved into the faintest hint of a smile.

"So you're Christina. He's mentioned you to me."

She came in and set the two cups on the low table.

"He said things haven't been easy for you, out on your own. So he took you in, out of kindness, and let you stay at his place."

I stood where I was, and something in my chest gave a sharp, sudden ache.

So that was how he described me to Eugenia.

No wonder she didn't make a scene.

Because Jeffrey had given her every reason not to. He'd even given her a public name, out there on his social media.

In her eyes, I was nothing but a parasite living off a man's charity.

The office door opened again.

Jeffrey walked in with a few reports in hand.

When he saw me, he faltered for a beat, then his expression smoothed back into something natural.

"Christina, you brought it over?" He walked around to sit behind his desk and flipped open the folder I'd delivered.

"Mm." I nodded.

Eugenia picked up a cup of coffee and went to his side.

"Here's your Americano. This lady just brought the documents by. I saw you were still in your meeting, so I let her in first."

Jeffrey took the coffee and drank.

"Thanks for the trouble." He looked at me, his tone all business. "The reports are fine. You can head back to work."

He didn't introduce me to Eugenia.

In his telling, I was just an ordinary subordinate dropping off documents.

"All right." I didn't call it out, and I didn't make a scene.

I looked at the two of them.

A handsome man, a lovely woman. A perfectly matched pair.

"Understood." I pulled my gaze away and walked out.

The moment the elevator doors closed, I took out my phone and opened the apartment-rental app.