“Did you sleep okay?” I asked, gently, like I hadn’t noticed his distance for weeks.

He didn’t look up. “Fine.”

I asked about the weekend plans—there was a fundraiser, a raffle, a grill he once said he wanted. He gave a shrug, muttered something about being busy. His eyes never left the screen.

Then the phone lit up. A name flashed across the glass. Carol. Smiling face, red hair, lips parted like she was mid-laugh.

“Who’s Carol?” I asked, casually, though my heart thudded in my throat.

“Colleague,” he said, too fast. “We’ve got a strategy meeting out of town.”

“All weekend?”

“Till Monday.”

He kissed my cheek on the way out. It didn’t feel like a kiss. It felt like a closing door.

I watched him leave. The way he didn’t look back. My coffee had gone cold. I didn’t touch it.

That afternoon, I returned to work. One of the units I managed was up for short-term rental. A new client was scheduled to sign the lease. I tucked the morning behind a tight smile and went on.

And then she walked in.

Carol.

I knew her the second I saw her. Same red hair. Same knowing smile. The woman from the phone. She introduced herself with that bright, chirpy tone people use when they think the world is theirs.

“Mila, right? I’m Carol. Heard you’re the best.”

Her handshake was firm, her nails a perfect pink. She was renting the apartment—for a romantic weekend, she said. “He travels for work, but this weekend it’s just us.”

I smiled. Professional. Calm. I handed her the keys with one hand.

And in my coat pocket, I held the spare.

By sunset, the sky was bruised with oranges and purples as I made a call. Carol’s emergency contact, listed on the lease. Her husband.

He picked up, his voice low and rough. “Hello?”

“I’m Mila. I rented your wife an apartment. She’s with my husband.”

A pause. Then: “When and where?”

“Tonight. I’ll send the address.”

At 8 p.m., we stood in the hallway, outside that door. He was stone still beside me, shoulders tense. I slipped the key into the lock and turned it.

Inside was candlelight. Laughter. Skin. A tangle of lies wrapped in sheets.

They looked up, startled. Frozen. Naked in more ways than one.

“Carol,” her husband growled.

“Clay—what—”

My husband’s mouth opened. Nothing came out. He looked smaller than I’d ever seen him.

I stepped forward. Looked Richard in the eye. “Remember the prenup clause?” I asked softly. “The one where the cheater pays?”

His face drained of color.

I turned to go. My heels clicked against the floor like punctuation marks on the end of a story I was done writing.

Two weeks later, the house is quieter. But I don’t mind it.

I painted the living room yellow. Bought new sheets. I cook for myself now—more cheese, extra paprika.

I keep fresh sunflowers in a mason jar by the window. They lean toward the light.

And I do too.

The spare key? I keep it still. Not for him. For me.

To remind myself: next time something feels off, I don’t wait for it to break me.

I open the door. I walk through it.