He’s a predator who targets women for their assets and then discards them when he’s done.”
The bathroom door opened, and Alexander emerged in a towel, hair still damp from the shower. He looked relaxed and satisfied—the look of a man who’d had a very good night.
“I have to go,” Sarah whispered into the phone. “Send me everything you found about Jennifer.”
She hung up just as Alexander walked into the bedroom, whistling softly under his breath.
“Morning, beautiful,” he said, bending down to kiss her forehead.
“Sorry I got in so late last night. That client presentation ran way longer than expected.”
Sarah looked up at him—this man she’d shared a bed with for three years—and saw a complete stranger. A liar.
A predator. A man who’d done this exact same thing to another woman just a few years ago.
“How late?” she asked, keeping her voice sleepy and unconcerned.
“Oh, around midnight, maybe. You were already asleep.”
Alexander moved to his dresser and started pulling out clothes.
“The client loved our proposal, though.
I think we’re going to land this deal.”
Midnight.
Alexander had just lied to her face without even blinking.
According to Tom, his car had been at Rebecca’s apartment all night.
“That’s great, honey,” Sarah said. “I’m proud of you for working so hard.”
Alexander paused in buttoning his shirt and looked at her with surprise.
“Really? I was worried you might be getting frustrated with all my late nights.”
“Why would I be frustrated?” Sarah asked.
“I know you’re doing it for us—for our future.”
Sarah forced a loving smile.
“I trust you completely.”
The words tasted like poison in her mouth, but Alexander’s face lit up with relief and what looked like genuine affection.
For a moment, Sarah almost felt sorry for him.
He had no idea that his wife had become a better actor than he was.
“You’re amazing,” Alexander said. “You know that?”
He sat on the edge of the bed and took her hand.
“I don’t know what I did to deserve you.”
The irony was so thick Sarah almost laughed.
Instead, she squeezed his hand and gazed at him with adoring eyes.
“You don’t have to deserve love, Alex. It’s just something I give you because you’re mine.”
Alexander’s expression grew tender, and for a moment he looked like the man she’d fallen in love with.
“I love you so much, Sarah.
More than you’ll ever know.”
The scary thing was that Sarah almost believed he meant it.
Alexander was such a good liar that he’d probably convinced himself his feelings were real—even while he planned to divorce her and steal her inheritance.
After Alexander left for work, Sarah called Janet Williams immediately.
“Janet, we need to move up our timeline. Alexander spent the night with Rebecca, and I just found out he was married before. He’s done this exact same thing to another woman.”
There was a pause on the other end of the line.
“Married before?
That wasn’t in any of the background checks we ran.”
“Tom Mitchell found the records. Alexander was married to Jennifer Walsh in Seattle from 2019 to 2021. She divorced him for adultery but couldn’t prove it, so she got almost nothing in the settlement.”
“My god,” Janet said.
“This means Alexander isn’t just cheating. He’s running a con. He targets women, marries them, builds their trust, then destroys them financially when he’s ready to move on.”
Sarah felt cold all over.
“Which means Rebecca probably isn’t his exit strategy,” Sarah said.
“She’s just his next mark.”
“Exactly,” Janet agreed. “Once Alexander divorces you and gets what he thinks is half your inheritance, he’ll probably marry Rebecca and start the whole cycle over again.”
Janet’s voice sharpened.
“Unless Rebecca ends up in prison for tax evasion first.”
“True,” Sarah said. “But Janet—this new information changes our strategy.
We’re not just dealing with a cheating husband anymore. We’re dealing with someone who’s made a career out of financial fraud through marriage.”
Sarah thought about Jennifer Walsh alone in Montana, probably still recovering from the emotional and financial devastation Alexander had left in his wake.
How many other women had there been?
How many lives had Alexander destroyed while perfecting his technique?
“I want to contact Jennifer,” Sarah said suddenly.
“That’s actually not a bad idea,” Janet replied. “If Alexander has a pattern of this behavior, Jennifer’s testimony could be valuable in your divorce proceedings, and she might have insights into how Alexander operates that could help us.”
“Can you find her contact information?”
“I’ll have Tom track her down.
But Sarah, are you sure you want to talk to her? It might be painful to hear about Alexander’s previous marriage.”
Sarah thought about it.
It would definitely be painful to learn more details about Alexander’s capacity for deception. But it might also be empowering—to connect with someone who’d survived what she was going through.
“I need to know what I’m really dealing with,” Sarah said.
“If Alexander has done this before, I want to understand his playbook so I can make sure he never does it again.”
“All right,” Janet said. “I’ll set it up.”
Then Janet’s voice turned brisk.
“In the meantime, we’re moving forward with the original plan, but we’re accelerating the timeline. Instead of waiting a week, we’re going to execute everything this Friday.”
“This Friday?” Sarah repeated.
“That’s only three days away.”
“I know it’s fast, but Alexander is escalating his behavior. Spending the night with Rebecca means he’s getting sloppy, which could work in our favor. But it also means he might be planning to make his move sooner than we expected.”
Sarah felt a thrill of anticipation mixed with terror.
In three days, Alexander’s world would explode.
In three days, he would finally understand what it felt like to be betrayed by someone you trusted completely.
“Janet,” Sarah said quietly, “when this is all over, I want to help Jennifer Walsh and any other women Alexander might have hurt.
I want to make sure he never gets the chance to do this to anyone else.”
“That’s very generous of you, Sarah. And with your father’s resources, you’ll be in a position to make a real difference.”
After hanging up, Sarah sat in her father’s study and thought about Jennifer Walsh. Somewhere in Montana, there was a woman who’d been through exactly what Sarah was experiencing now—a woman who’d loved Alexander, trusted him, built a life with him, only to discover it was all a lie.
But unlike Jennifer, Sarah had resources.
She had her father’s wealth, his strategic mind, his protective instincts working for her. Even after his death, she had a team of professionals helping her fight back.
Alexander had picked the wrong woman this time.
Instead of another victim, he’d found his match.
And in three days, he was going to find out just how badly he’d miscalculated.
Jennifer Walsh had a warm voice with a slight Montana accent that made Sarah feel instantly comfortable. When Janet’s office arranged the phone call, Sarah had been nervous about talking to Alexander’s ex-wife.
But Jennifer sounded genuinely pleased to hear from her.
“I wondered if this day would come,” Jennifer said after Sarah explained who she was.
“When I heard Alexander had gotten married again, I hoped maybe he’d changed… but I had a feeling he hadn’t.”
“He never mentioned being married before,” Sarah said, still struggling to process the information.
“I’m not surprised,” Jennifer replied. “Alexander is very good at rewriting his own history to fit whatever story he needs to tell.”
Jennifer’s voice grew sad.
“When we met, he told me his last girlfriend had cheated on him and broken his heart. Made me feel so special that he was willing to trust me with his love again.”
Sarah’s heart clenched.
Alexander had told her almost the exact same story.
“How did you find out about the affair?” Sarah asked.
“I caught him texting another woman at two in
