Chapter 3 of When My Husband Protected His Mistress Over Our Daughter

I came home from the grocery store and found Alayna standing in the middle of the living room with a cardboard box in her hands.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

She looked up. Her face was soft and apologetic. "Oh, Sydney. I'm so sorry. I should have asked first. I just thought—" She gestured around the room. "There's so much clutter. I wanted to help. I used to do organizing for a living, you know, before I got sick."

I set the grocery bags on the floor. "What's in the box?"

"Just some odds and ends I found lying around. Old mail. Broken toys. Things that looked like they should be thrown out." She smiled gently. "I didn't want to overstep. I can put it all back if you want."

I walked over and looked inside. Junk mail. A cracked picture frame. Mae's old baby socks.

Nothing important.

I exhaled. "It's fine."

Alayna's smile widened. "I'm so glad. I really want to contribute while I'm here. I don't want to be a burden."

She carried the box toward the garage. I went to put away the groceries.

That's when Mae came downstairs.

She was touching her neck. Her fingers moved across her collarbone, searching, her face confused.

"Mama," she said quietly. "Where's my locket?"

I froze.

The locket. The vintage silver locket my grandmother gave me the week before she died. The one I'd fastened around Mae's neck on her fifth birthday and told her she could keep forever.

I walked over to her. "Did you take it off?"

She shook her head. "I never take it off. You said I didn't have to."

"When did you last see it?"

Her eyes filled. "This morning. Before breakfast. I remember touching it."

I turned and called out, "Alayna?"

She appeared in the doorway, eyebrows raised.

"Did you see a silver locket anywhere? A small one, on a chain?"

She tilted her head, thinking. "A locket? No, I don't think so. Why?"

"Mae's missing hers."

Alayna's face shifted into concern. She pressed a hand to her chest. "Oh no. That's terrible. Where did she last have it?"

"She was wearing it this morning."

"Well, it must have fallen off somewhere. I'm sure it'll turn up."

I looked at her. At the box she'd been holding. "Was there a locket in that box?"

"What? No. Of course not. Just trash."

"Where is it now?"

"I already put it in the outside bin. The garbage truck comes tomorrow morning, so I wanted to—"

I didn't wait for her to finish. I walked past her, out the side door, into the garage. I yanked open the lid of the trash bin and started pulling things out. Junk mail. Broken toys. An empty shampoo bottle. Coffee grounds. Banana peels.

I dug deeper. My hands were shaking now. I pulled out bag after bag, ripping them open, spilling garbage across the concrete floor.

Nothing.

I went back inside. Alayna was standing in the hallway, watching me. Mae was beside her, silent, her eyes red.

"It's not there," I said.

Alayna's expression was perfectly sympathetic. "I'm so sorry, Sydney. I really am. Maybe it fell off outside? Or at school?"

I stepped closer. "You threw it away."

Her eyes widened. "What? No. I would never—"

"You went through this house. You touched everything. You threw things away without asking. And now my daughter's locket is gone."

Her face crumpled. Her voice broke. "I was trying to help. I didn't know—" She pressed her fingers to her mouth. Her shoulders started to shake.

But I saw it.

Just for a second. Before the tears came. Before her voice cracked.

I saw the corner of her mouth twitch upward.

A smirk. Cold and satisfied.

Then it was gone, and she was sobbing, turning away, stumbling toward the stairs.

"Mitchell!" she called, her voice high and wounded. "Mitchell, please!"

He came down the stairs fast, his face already set in that hard, protective expression.

"What happened?" he demanded.

Alayna buried her face in her hands. "I was just trying to help. I thought I was doing something good. And now Sydney's accusing me of—" She broke off, sobbing harder.

Mitchell turned to me. His jaw was tight. "What did you say to her?"

"She threw away Mae's locket."

"I didn't!" Alayna's voice was muffled behind her hands. "I swear I didn't. I don't even know what it looks like."

Mitchell's eyes were cold. "You need to apologize."

I stared at him. "What?"

"You heard me. You accused her of something she didn't do. You made her cry. Apologize."

Mae was still standing there, silent, her hand on her bare neck.

I looked at my husband. At the woman crying into her hands. At my daughter.

I didn't apologize.

I turned and walked upstairs.

---

That night, I sat with Mae until she fell asleep. She didn't cry. She just lay there with her fingers resting on the empty space where the locket used to be, staring at the ceiling.

I kissed her forehead. I whispered, "I'm sorry."

She didn't answer.

I went downstairs. The house was dark. Mitchell had gone to bed without speaking to me. Alayna's door was closed.

I sat at the kitchen table and opened my laptop.

The screen glowed in the dark. I stared at it for a long time.

Then I opened a new document and typed: Resume.

I hadn't looked at it in five years. The last line read: Digital Marketing Strategist, Foster & Lane Agency, 2015–2018.

I read through the bullet points. Campaign management. Client acquisition. Revenue growth. Words that belonged to someone I used to be.

I closed my eyes. I took a breath.

Then I started typing.

I updated the dates. I added skills. I wrote a new summary. My fingers moved slowly at first, then faster.

I didn't know what I was doing. Not really.