Chapter 5 Meet Jake and His Mistress
1083 Words
A few days later, Lucas’s call came through. "Mrs. Everhart, I've tracked down who your husband's been seeing."
It hit Emma hard when Lucas mentioned the affair was tied to the nursing home.
'Is that why Jake has been hanging around there so much?'
Emma was utterly revolted.
She didn't know who this other woman was, nor did she have solid proof of Jake's infidelity.
But from the moment she caught him dining with another woman and stumbled upon that nude painting, her suspicions hadn't stopped buzzing.
Lucas was waiting right outside her office building. Emma got downstairs and slid into his car.
"Is she one of the caregivers?" she asked, cutting right to the chase.
"Take it easy," Lucas replied, holding up his coffee. "Need a cup? Might help you handle what's coming."
"No thanks. Can't really drink anything right now."
How could she still be in the mood for coffee? She had been losing her appetite these days.
"Alright." Lucas shrugged and added, "This will probably wake you up more than coffee anyway."
He handed her the headset and said, "I've been keeping tabs on Jake. Turns out he's been meeting the finance manager every time he visits. Sometimes in her office, sometimes right in your dad's room. I managed to plant a bug in your father's room when no one was looking. They're in there right now..."
Emma put on the headset, prepared yet not for what she heard. The heavy breathing and moans from the other end were like daggers in her heart.
After what felt like an eternity, the moans ceased, and Jake's voice then filtered through the headset.
"I need to leave now. Emma’s been getting home early recently. My mom suspects she might be onto something."
"Easy. Even if she is, we've got the old man as a decoy," a woman's voice answered.
"Knock it off. She saw us at dinner the other day. I think she's suspecting something."
Emma’s hand balled into a fist as she heard Jake's words.
"You're worried about her catching on, but what about my feelings? I've been stuck in this mess for two years. Do you know what people are saying about me?"
"I get it, love. Just a little longer, okay? We stage an accident, cash in the insurance, sort out your mess with the funds, and then we're out."
"Fine, I trust you. Just get back now. Simon has been keeping an eye out for us, and I'm gonna get him inside. Emma definitely has no idea her dad's also in the loop and helps us out every time. What do you think she'd do if she found out?"
"Come on, don't be so mean."
"Well, that's the game. She always thinks she's above everyone. She'd never guess that the people she looks down on could pull one over on her."
Emma couldn't make out anything they said after that. She was too shaken, her face pale and her body trembling uncontrollably.
Lucas looked at Emma with a concerned expression.
He knew she was a sharp and successful woman professionally. The betrayal by her husband was bad enough, but her father's involvement cut even deeper, despite their already strained relationship.
He wasn't sure what to say to comfort her, since the situation was just too heavy.
"Send it to me," Emma suddenly requested.
"Huh?"
"Send me the recording."
"Emma, don't do anything rash," Lucas said cautiously, watching her reaction closely.
"I won't, I promise," Emma reassured him with a faint smile, but the intensity in her eyes sent shivers down Lucas’s spine.
Using the nursing home as a cover had seemed like a clever plan to Jake, but his face betrayed a flicker of panic when he spotted Emma approaching.
He was just talking about Emma with his mistress, and yet the next second, Emma was right in front of his eyes.
Caught off guard, Jake instinctively put on a smile and walked towards her. "Honey, what are you..."
Emma hadn't missed the brief flash of panic across Jake's face.
She walked straight up to him and raised her hand high.
The sound of her slap echoed through the hallway. Jake's cheek quickly showed five red marks, evidence of Emma’s force.
Jake, a hand covering his cheek, stood frozen in shock.
Just as Emma was about to speak, she was interrupted by a shrill voice.
"What are you doing???!!!" A woman rushed out of the ward and stared in shock at what had just happened. "How can you just slap him like that?!"
Though the woman's voice was piercing, the moment she spoke, Emma recognized her.
This was the woman Jake was cheating with.
'Perfect, the lead actress in this sorry drama entered the stage.'
Emma crossed her arms and slightly tilted her chin up to take in the woman from head to toe.
Emma had imagined all sorts of possibilities about the woman Jake might be involved with—someone young, beautiful, or perhaps with a stunning figure.
But the woman standing before her was remarkably ordinary.
Exactly, she was just too ordinary.
She was dressed elegantly, but the wrinkles on her neck and the fine lines under her eyes betrayed her age. This woman appeared to be older than Emma.
And she seemed quite gentle and graceful, a stark contrast to the lascivious voice Emma had heard over the bug.
For a moment, Emma wondered if she had made a mistake. Surely, this couldn't be Jake's mistress.
The woman had hurried towards Jake but stopped dead when she was met with a harsh glare from him.
She came to an awkward halt. Turning to Emma, she said in a tone laden with tension, "This is a nursing home, ma'am. How can you just slap someone like that?"
Watching her rush to defend Jake, Emma couldn't help but snort in derision.
She hadn't expected Jake to cheat with a woman older than her. That her husband was taken by such a woman made her wonder whether to blame her own naivety or Jake's poor taste.
"I'm his wife, and this is our family affair." Emma stressed the word "wife" deliberately.
The woman's face flickered with surprise, and she recoiled slightly.
"How long were you planning to keep this from me?" Emma asked, her voice eerily calm.
'That's it—she knew about my affair!' Jake thought Emma meant this.
A cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and his knees buckled, nearly sending him to the ground.
- Writer
