Chapter 2 - The Third Ticket.
The glass walls of Terminal 4 flooded the concourse with bright winter sunlight.
Families hurried toward security while departure boards clicked through cities and gate numbers.
Sophia walked beside Daniel with her beige trench coat buttoned to the throat.
Kelly stayed half a step behind him.
No matter how the crowd shifted, Kelly somehow remained close enough to brush his shoulder.
Sophia noticed every accidental touch.
Daniel pretended not to notice any of them.
At the airline counter, he placed three passports on the desk.
Sophia stared at the stack.
"You booked her ticket?"
Daniel did not look up.
"The company booked it."
Kelly adjusted her sunglasses.
"Technically, Daniel approved it."
Daniel shot her a sharp look.
Kelly smiled as if she had made a harmless joke.
The airline agent asked whether they were traveling together.
Daniel opened his mouth.
Sophia answered first.
"My husband and I are."
She looked directly at Kelly.
"She is not."
The agent hesitated.
Kelly's smile thinned.
Daniel lowered his voice.
"You're making this awkward."
Sophia almost laughed.
"I am?"
He leaned closer.
"We just got married."
"Exactly."
For one second, Daniel looked trapped by his own sentence.
The agent printed their boarding passes.
Sophia reached for hers.
Daniel collected all three before she could touch them.
"I'll hold everything."
Sophia's eyes moved to his hand.
Her passport disappeared into the inner pocket of his suit jacket.
A tiny alarm went off in her mind.
"Give me mine."
Daniel exhaled.
"Sophia, please."
"My passport."
He forced a smile and handed it back.
Kelly turned away, but not before Sophia saw irritation flash across her face.
They moved toward security.
Daniel walked faster than usual.
Kelly matched his pace.
Sophia let them drift several feet ahead.
From behind, they looked like the couple.
That thought was so ugly that she almost rejected it immediately.
Then Daniel said something over his shoulder to Kelly.
Kelly laughed and touched the middle of his back.
The gesture was small.
It was also intimate.
Sophia stopped walking.
Neither of them noticed.
A father pushing a stroller had to move around her.
"Sorry."
Sophia stepped aside.
Her wedding ring suddenly felt heavy.
She had known Daniel for four years.
He had courted her patiently after her father died.
He had never pushed when she protected the inheritance and voting shares her father had left behind.
He had even insisted on signing a prenuptial agreement.
That had made him seem safe.
Now Sophia wondered whether safety itself had been part of the performance.
Her phone vibrated inside her handbag.
She ignored it.
Daniel turned and waved impatiently.
"Come on."
Sophia started walking again.
Her phone vibrated a second time.
Then a third.
This time she pulled it out.
The message came from an unknown number.
There were no words.
Only two attachments waited beneath the blank sender line.
Sophia's thumb hovered over the first image.
Ahead of her, Daniel placed his hand on Kelly's elbow to guide her around a family blocking the walkway.
Kelly leaned into him for one effortless second.
Sophia opened the photograph.
The airport noise seemed to vanish.
Daniel was in the picture.
Kelly was in his arms.
They were kissing beneath a neon sign in Las Vegas.
Sophia stopped breathing.
A date glowed in the corner of the image.
It was fourteen months old.
Nine months before Daniel had proposed to her.
Her thumb moved to the second attachment.
A government seal filled the screen.
Sophia read the first line once.
Then she read it again.
Certificate of Marriage.
Groom: Daniel James Mercer.
Bride: Kelly Anne Hayes.
Sophia lifted her eyes.
Daniel and Kelly were standing twenty feet away, waiting for her.
Daniel raised both hands in frustration.
"What's taking so long?"
May you like
Sophia looked back at the certificate.
The document said Daniel was already married.
