3: 3
The next evening, Seth showed up at the door of our home with Willow and the baby.
"The recovery center's time is up."
"Let Willow stay a few days. I'll find somewhere else to sleep."
Willow carried the baby inside, taking in the living room.
"Wow, sis. This place is huge."
"The baby's going to love it here."
I blocked the doorway.
"No. This is my home."
Seth froze.
"Isn't your home Willow's home too? The two of you are sisters. Why split hairs over what's yours and what's hers?"
I looked at him, cold. "Sorry. I'm not in the habit of fighting another woman for a husband."
Willow's eyes went red at once.
"I'm sorry. I know you hate me. I already told you I won't take Seth from you."
"I just wanted the baby to have a decent place to stay. Why can't you give me even that much?"
"He's your nephew too!"
My mother came out of the elevator and pointed straight at me.
"Autumn, how can you be so selfish?"
"That's your own flesh-and-blood nephew!"
"No wonder Seth chose Willow. At least she's got a heart!"
Seth pulled her back.
"Mom, that's enough."
He turned to me, whatever patience he had left finally gone.
"Autumn, I promised I'd get the divorce. Why won't you believe me?"
"You keep acting like this. How are we supposed to move forward?"
He was the one who faked his death, cheated, married someone else.
And now, somehow, I was the one who refused to make it work.
I stepped aside from the door.
"Move in, then."
That night, I heard laughter through the wall of the next bedroom.
Seth sat on the edge of the bed, Willow leaning against his shoulder, the two of them playing with the baby.
That room had been the nursery I designed.
Seth had once painted a growth chart on the wall, said we'd mark our own child's height on it as they grew.
Now, under that tree, stood another woman's baby in another woman's crib.
I stood in the hallway, took out my phone, and took the first photo.
Whatever softness I'd felt ended there.
I gave it serious thought: when exactly had Seth and Willow gotten tangled up together.
There had to be a point where it started, and a reason.
I turned it over and over, and only one possibility fit.
I logged into an investment account I hadn't opened in three years.
Three years ago, Seth's startup had failed and his cash flow dried up.
He couldn't sleep, hiding out on the balcony to smoke all night.
I wanted to help him, but I didn't want him to feel he owed me, so I funneled money in anonymously, under the name of a friend's company.
Three point two million, in twelve transfers, into Seth's company.
Two years ago, the account password was changed. But the money had already gone through by then, so I let it go.
Looking back now, the device that logged in the day the password changed matched Willow's phone model.
She stole my account. She stole the investor's identity. She stole my man.
That night, while everyone was in the living room.
I set my laptop on the coffee table.
"Seth, there's something I need to tell you."
"The investment in your company three years ago? It didn't come from Willow."
"It came from me."
The living room went quiet.
I plugged in the flash drive and pulled up the files.
Seth read through them page by page, his face growing heavier.
I looked at him.
"Now you know."
"The one who understood you, saved you, stayed with you through the worst of it. It was me, from start to finish."
He sat there and said nothing for a long time.
Willow held the baby tighter, gazing up at him, the picture of helplessness.
After a long silence, he crossed to me and picked up the flash drive holding every piece of evidence.
"Autumn, this ends here."
"Whoever put in the money back then, I'll pay it back."
"Willow's still nursing."
"If any of this gets out, they'll tear her apart."
I asked him, "And me?"
He avoided the question.
"You're stronger than she is."
The next second, he threw the flash drive out the window.
Willow stopped crying.
She raised her eyes to me, victory hidden underneath.
My mother patted my shoulder.
"Autumn, I always knew you were the sensible one."
"Family shouldn't keep such careful accounts."
I stood by the window, staring at my empty palm.
He knew the truth now, and still he chose to protect the other one.
