His Secret Son, My Broken Heart

the window, sweetie," the

cation unravele

sn't on a business tr

little brother" I' d been raisi

ctually

r bills while Ashton bought Ange

ose them, Angela pl

nowing he had a deadly allergy, ju

e you're jealous!" she s

d at me with

monster,

t they had

talled hidden cameras in

t proving Alfie wasn't ev

and smiled at t

eo I think yo

pte

adline snagged my attention. "Cheater Buster: Exposing Digital Deceit One Photo at a Time." It was a viral trend, women submitting ph

business trip.

ow, a half-smile on his perfect face. I remembered thinking

profile picture showed a woman with sharp eyes and a no-nonsense expression. "Se

silly. Ashton was different. Ashton loved me. We we

sidious whisper starte

ption: "My amazing boyfriend on his 'business trip.' Just curious, Cheater Busters

ication. A direct mess

ath hi

in on the photo. It was faint, but there. A blurry outline. A woman. And next to her, on the bed

ne," I typed back,

tantly. "Tell him you miss him. As

te consultant, always impeccably dressed, always talking about our future, our family

ent. "He's just busy. He's probably in a shared wo

standing by the window. The reflection is inside his room. And those aren'

them. Ashton had never bought me anything like that.

eeling a desperate need to cling

ones who betray us the deepest," Brea wrote. "

t leaped, then plunged. This was too much of a coinci

g a smile. "Hey, b

dent. The camera angle was strange, pointing up a

d angle?" I asked, tr

awkwardly swiveled, showing a glimpse of a plush hotel room, a generic landsc

era, a voice shr

ly thought you might be with someone because of a reflection in your window. Silly,

s room, missing you like crazy. Why would I be with anyone else?" He held the phone closer, his handsome face filling the scre

thing for me. I felt a flush of shame. How could I have doubted him, even for a second? Brea Shan

shouldn't have listened to those internet strangers. I

reassuring smile. "Soon

gossip. Ashton was mine. Our future was solid. I pushed the lingering doubt deep down, focusing instead o