Chapter 8 - THE TRAP IN THE STUDY
Sarah did not go home alone.
Elena advised her not to confront Daniel without a witness, so Megan drove her back and waited downstairs.
Daniel stood in the study.
Ashley was not there.
For the first time in weeks, he looked frightened rather than defensive.
“She lied to me,” he said.
Sarah closed the door.
“About what?”
“The old lawsuit. Evan. The company.”
Sarah almost laughed.
“That is what you’re upset about?”
Daniel ran a hand through his hair.
“I didn’t know she’d done this before.”
“But you knew about Northline.”
His silence answered.
“You knew about the credit line.”
Another silence.
“You knew about the lease.”
“I thought it was temporary protection for her.”
“With my signature?”
“I thought you signed it.”
Sarah stared at him.
Daniel’s eyes shifted away.
That tiny movement told her more than any confession.
“You used my laptop.”
“No.”
“You knew my password.”
“Sarah—”
“You used my laptop.”
He sat down.
“I needed the bank application to move forward. Ashley said you had already agreed in principle.”
“I never agreed.”
“I know that now.”
“No. You knew it then.”
Daniel began to cry.
Sarah felt nothing.
Not because she had stopped loving him.
Because grief had become too crowded inside her.
That night, Sarah set a trap.
With Elena’s approval, she created a fake spreadsheet labeled FAMILY TRUST-LIQUID FUNDS and saved it in a private folder on her laptop. The document contained no real financial information, only a harmless tracking link generated by a security service.
Then she left the laptop closed in the study.
At 2:08 a.m., her phone alerted.
The file had been opened.
From Sarah’s laptop.
At 2:10, it was copied to a USB drive.
Sarah walked downstairs with Megan behind her.
The study light was on.
Ashley stood beside the desk.
A flash drive was in her hand.
She looked at Sarah.
For one second, neither woman spoke.
Then Ashley smiled.
“You really think this proves anything?”
Sarah held up her phone.
“It proves you accessed a private financial file after midnight.”
Ashley unplugged the drive.
“No. It proves I used a shared computer in the house where I legally live.”
She walked past Sarah.
At the door, she stopped.
“Oh, and you should check your husband’s messages before you celebrate.”
Sarah turned.
May you like
Ashley’s smile widened.
“He contacted me first.”
