PART 3 – The Papers in Her Handbag Led Me Back to a House I Had Not Thought About in Years

Emily told me the payments had continued for years.

She said Daniel had sent money to someone whose name I didn't recognize.

I looked through the documents again.

There were dates.

There were amounts.

There were records of transfers.

I tried to find something that would make the whole thing seem less strange.

Maybe it was a business arrangement.

Maybe it was a loan.

Maybe Daniel had been helping someone who needed money.

But I couldn't find an explanation.

And the longer I looked, the more questions I had.

I turned another page.

Then another.

The papers seemed ordinary enough.

Bank statements.

Transfer confirmations.

Documents with Daniel's signature.

Nothing about them explained why Emily had been hiding them.

I looked up.

"Did you know about this while Daniel was alive?"

She shook her head.

"No."

"Then when did you find out?"

"After he died."

I waited.

She looked down at the table.

"I came across the records while I was looking through some things."

I didn't ask what things.

I couldn't think clearly enough to ask the right questions.

All I could think about was Daniel.

The man I had loved.

The man I had trusted.

The man I thought I knew.

I looked at the statements again.

I wanted to believe there was a simple explanation.

But I couldn't find one.

I reached the final page.

At first, I didn't understand what I was looking at.

Then I saw the address.

I recognized it immediately.

It was the house where Daniel and I had lived before we moved into our current home.

I stared at the page.

The room seemed to grow quiet.

I looked at Emily.

"Why is our old address on this?"

Her expression changed.

She looked as though she had been waiting for me to ask that question.

She didn't answer immediately.

I waited.

Then she spoke.

"Because the person receiving the money lived there."

I looked down at the address again.

I knew that house.

I knew every room.

I knew the sound of the front door.

I knew the kitchen window where Daniel used to stand while making coffee.

I knew the place where we had started our marriage.

I had never imagined that it could be connected to something like this.

I looked back at Emily.

"Who was living there?"

She wiped her eyes.

For a moment, she seemed unable to speak.

Then she said something that made my heart stop.

"That person was living there before you ever met Daniel."

I stared at her.

I couldn't find the words.

Before I met Daniel.

I read the address again.

I tried to understand what she was telling me.

Whatever Daniel had been hiding, it hadn't started during our marriage.

It had begun before I was even part of his life.

I looked at Emily.

She was crying now.

I wanted to ask her why she had kept this from me.

I wanted to ask her what else she knew.

But I couldn't speak.

I had spent thirty-seven years believing I knew everything important about my best friend.

And I had spent my marriage believing I knew the man I loved.

Now I wasn't sure I knew either of them.

Source: kaylestore.net

Click here to continue reading: PART 4: The Address I Recognized Changed Everything I Thought I Knew About the Man I Had Loved