Part 2: Two Lives, One Lie

The woman introduced herself as Natalie.

“I’m so sorry,” she said through tears. “I had no idea.”

I believed her.

She showed me photos of their vacations, screenshots of text messages, and pictures of the proposal.

Each image felt like another knife twisting in my chest.

The beach proposal had happened last summer—the exact week Ethan had told me he was attending a mandatory business conference.

There had never been a conference.

Natalie looked devastated.

“He said you cheated on him years ago,” she said. “He told me the marriage was over but the paperwork took forever.”

I shook my head.

“We were never separated.”

She covered her mouth as the reality hit her.

Ethan had been living two completely different lives.

One with me.

One with her.

And somehow, he had managed to keep both worlds from colliding—until today.