My wife said she was going on a road trip to the beach with her best friend, and she specifically told me not to contact her. Before she left, she put on a brand-new dress, sprayed a flirty perfume, and adjusted the passenger seat all the way back. In the middle of the night, the more I thought about it, the more uneasy I felt. I dialed her best friend’s husband’s number. “Is Harper home?” He answered sleepily, “Yeah, she just finished showering.” I clenched my phone, got into my car, and drove straight to his house. “Open the door. I’m outside.” Her best friend’s husband opened the door, and there was Harper, standing in the living room in her pajamas, completely panicking. The next moment, I opened the car app on my phone and remotely locked my wife’s car. Chloe said she was going on a three-day road trip to the beach with her best friend, Harper. She specifically told me not to contact her. “The reception where we’re going is terrible,” she said. “And I just really want to completely unplug and relax.” I nodded. “Okay.” The day before she left, she dragged me around the mall all day. She bought a new white sundress. She also bought a new bottle of perfume. It wasn’t her usual light, floral scent. This one was rich, musky, and incredibly sexy. She said, “Harper loves this scent.” On the morning of her departure, she got up very early. She spent two hours doing her makeup. Her eyeliner was sharp, and she wore a bold, classic red lipstick. I watched her. “It’s just a trip to the beach. Do you really need to go all out like this?” She laughed. “You don’t understand girls, Adam.” “We need to take lots of cute pictures for Instagram.” She loaded her suitcase into the trunk. Then, she got into the driver’s seat, but immediately got back out. She opened the passenger door and started adjusting the seat. She pushed the passenger seat all the way back, creating the maximum amount of legroom. I frowned. “Why are you making the passenger seat so spacious?” Chloe didn’t even look back. “Harper gained some weight recently. I’m afraid she won’t be comfortable otherwise.” I didn’t say anything else. I helped her close the trunk. She leaned out of the car window and blew me a kiss. “Bye, Adam!” “Be a good boy at home.” The car sped away, kicking up dust. I went back inside our empty house. The heavy, suffocating scent of her perfume still lingered in the air. I walked out onto the balcony and lit a cigarette. Harper gained weight? We had just had dinner together last week. She was even thinner than Chloe. My heart began to sink, inch by inch. In the middle of the night, I lay in bed, tossing and turning. Chloe’s Snapchat profile background was still our wedding photo. In the photo, her smile was so sweet. But my mind was entirely consumed by that passenger seat pushed all the way back. I grabbed my phone. I dialed Harper’s husband, Mike.
“Hey? It’s so late, what’s up?” I took a deep breath, keeping my voice as steady as possible. “Mike, is Harper home?” There was a second of silence on the other end. Then came Mike’s confused voice. “Yeah, she’s home. She just finished her shower, she’s blow-drying her hair right now.” I felt the blood in my veins completely freeze. “Sorry, dialed the wrong number.” I hung up. The room was deathly quiet. Outside the window, the city lights were cold and piercing. I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. But as I laughed, tears started rolling down my face. What a brilliant “road trip.” What a wonderful “best friend.” I sat up abruptly. Rage surged through every fiber of my being. I couldn’t just let this go. I needed proof. I needed answers. I needed to shatter this meticulously crafted lie into pieces. I rushed downstairs. I started my car. I slammed on the gas, and the car shot out like an arrow. The cold night wind rushed through the open window, stinging my face. But my heart was much colder than the wind. Twenty minutes later. I parked my car outside Mike’s apartment building. It was a very familiar neighborhood. Chloe and I had been here countless times. I pulled out my phone again and called Mike. “Open the door.” “I’m outside your apartment.” On the other end of the line, Mike was baffled. “What? Are you kidding me?” “I’m not kidding.” “Open the door.” I heard footsteps through the phone, and then Harper’s faint, startled gasp. A few seconds later. The door opened. Mike stood there in his sweatpants, looking at me with utter confusion. “Adam.” I pushed past him and walked inside. The living room lights were bright. Behind him stood Harper in her pink silk pajamas. Her hair was wet, and she was still holding her hair dryer. When she saw me, her face completely lost all color.
Harper’s eyes looked like those of a cornered animal. The hair dryer slipped from her hand and clattered onto the floor. “Adam, what… why are you here?” Her voice was trembling, barely audible. Mike finally snapped out of his daze. He walked over and patted my shoulder. “Adam, what the hell is going on? Did you and Chloe get into a fight?” He knew nothing. Looking at him, I suddenly felt a wave of pity. And a bit of envy. My gaze shifted back to Harper. “Aren’t you supposed to be on a road trip at the beach with Chloe?” “Why are you at home?” Harper’s face turned as white as a sheet of paper. “Oh… about that…” “We… we canceled it at the last minute.” “Yeah, we canceled it!” Mike looked even more confused now. “Canceled? What are you guys talking about?” He looked at me, then at his panicked wife. I laughed. It was a cold, bitter laugh. I didn’t look at her again. Under their bewildered stares, I pulled out my phone. I opened my car’s tracking app. It clearly showed the real-time location of Chloe’s white BMW. A blinking red dot was parked at a resort hotel over eighty miles away from the city. My finger swiped gently across the screen. An option popped up. “Remote Lock & Disable Engine” A small text notification flashed. “Vehicle locked. Engine immobilized.” Right at that moment, my phone started ringing like crazy. It was Chloe. I answered it and put it on speaker. Her panicked, crying voice erupted from the speaker. “Adam! Where are you?!” “My car! I don’t know what happened, but it suddenly locked itself and won’t start!” “I’m trapped at a highway rest stop! It’s so dark, and I’m so scared!” “Please, come rescue me!” I held the phone, staring at the pale-faced Harper in front of me, and said slowly. “I am at your best friend’s house.” “And her husband is right here with me.”
The other end of the line went instantly dead silent. I could easily picture Chloe’s face at this exact moment. A few seconds later, her hysterical voice exploded from the speaker. “Why are you at Harper’s house?!” “What the hell are you doing at her place in the middle of the night?! Are you out of your mind?!” I let out a cold sneer. “Am I out of my mind?” “Chloe, I should be the one asking that question.” “Aren’t you supposed to be with Harper?” “Why are you alone at a rest stop?” In the living room, Harper stumbled back. She almost collapsed to the floor. Mike caught her. He finally sensed that something was terribly wrong. His brows furrowed deeply. “Adam, what the hell is actually going on?” I turned my phone screen toward him. “She’s right here.” I pointed at the location on the screen. “A place called the Aegean Resort.” “Eighty miles away from here.” Mike’s expression changed instantly. He stared at his wife in disbelief. Harper avoided his eyes, not daring to look at him or me. She was still trying to make a desperate excuse. “That’s a misunderstanding!” “Chloe’s… her GPS must be broken!” “GPS is broken?” My smile grew colder. “Then is my car’s GPS broken too?” On the other end of the line, Chloe heard everything. “What do you want?!” “I’m just at a rest stop! My car broke down! I’m alone and terrified!” “Unlock my car right now!” “Sure.” “Tell me the name of the rest stop you’re at.” “I’ll drive over right now.” “And I’ll bring your best friend and her husband with me. We can all pick you up together.”
As soon as those words left my mouth, Chloe completely broke down on the phone. “Don’t you dare!” “If you bring them here, we are done!” “We were done a long time ago,” I replied flatly. “The very moment you pushed that passenger seat all the way back.” With that, I hung up. I put my phone in my pocket and looked at the terrified Mike and Harper. Mike’s lips trembled. He wanted to say something, but he didn’t know where to start. This honest, hardworking man was watching his entire world crumble before his eyes. And Harper was clutching his arm tightly. “Adam, let me explain!” “It’s not what you think! It’s really not!” I had no interest in her explanations. I had already achieved my goal. I looked at Mike. “Now, I have two options.” “First, I drive to that resort alone.” “Second, we go together.” “I suggest the second option,” I added. “Because my car is equipped with a 360-degree dashcam. High-definition night vision, interior and exterior, with audio recording.” “I’m worried the footage might be too wild for me to enjoy alone.” Mike’s body shuddered. He wasn’t stupid. He understood. He took a deep breath, as if making a final decision. Slowly, he pried Harper’s fingers off his arm. His voice was terrifyingly raspy. “Get dressed,” he told Harper. “We are going together.” Harper’s eyes were filled with pure despair. She started crying and begging. “Adam, please don’t do this, I beg you!” “It’s all a misunderstanding! Believe me!” “If you go, our marriage is over!” “Go change your clothes. Now!” Mike’s voice suddenly boomed, filled with an authority I had never heard from him before. In all the years I had known him, this was the first time I had ever seen him angry. Harper was stunned into silence. Her cries choked back in her throat. Looking at her husband’s icy glare, she knew there was no turning back. Like a lost soul, she stumbled into the bedroom. I watched all of this quietly. There was no joy in my heart. Only a barren, freezing emptiness. The destruction of a marriage was playing out right in front of me. And I was the one who had handed over the sledgehammer. A few minutes later, Harper walked out in regular clothes. Her face was stained with tears, and her hair was a mess. Mike grabbed his car keys and looked at me. “Let’s go.”
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