PART 1
I boarded the plane with my mistress, certain my wife was hundreds of miles away.
Then she appeared at the cabin door in her flawless flight attendant uniform and handed me a glass.
“Champagne,” Dakota said calmly, “to celebrate the secret trip you invented?”
My entire body froze.
Beside me, Trinity tightened her grip on my arm. She looked from Dakota to me, her confident smile breaking apart.
“What did she just say?” Trinity whispered.
I couldn’t answer.
Dakota was my wife. That morning I’d texted her that I was on my way to Nashville for a business meeting. In reality, I was boarding a first-class flight from Miami to Florence with another woman.
Dakota didn’t cry. Didn’t shout. She just stepped aside with a polished smile.
“Welcome aboard,” she said. “Please enjoy your flight.”
For seven years, everyone believed I was the perfect husband. I brought flowers to family dinners, posted anniversary photos, called Dakota my greatest blessing.
But behind that image, I’d built another life entirely.
Trinity was a PR consultant I’d met at a corporate event. First it was drinks. Then dinners. Then weekends I claimed were business trips. Now I was flying her to Italy on the company’s dime.
I thought Dakota would never find out.
I was wrong.
Trinity lifted her chin, trying to recover. “Could you bring us champagne later?”
Dakota smiled at her.
“Of course, ma’am.”
That single word hit harder than any insult could have.
I wanted to explain, but passengers were waiting behind us. Dakota pointed toward the aisle.
“Your seats are in the front cabin. Please proceed.”
I walked forward like a man heading to judgment.
Once we sat, Trinity stared at me with rising suspicion. I fumbled with my seatbelt. Dakota passed our row a few minutes later, checking overhead bins.
She leaned close enough that only we could hear.
“Is the champagne enough to celebrate your meeting in Nashville?”
Trinity turned slowly.
“Nashville?”
I had no answer.
Dakota walked away, calm and graceful, but I knew that look. She wasn’t broken.
She was planning.
