My Husband Protected His Mistress While I Bled

I didn't hear her come in.

I was at the kitchen counter, slicing strawberries for breakfast. The knife made soft sounds against the cutting board. Outside the windows, Manhattan stretched gray and bright under morning clouds.

I heard the guest bathroom door close down the hall.

My hand paused. I set the knife down and walked toward the sound.

'Hello?'

No answer.

I stepped into the hallway. The bathroom door was shut. I pressed my ear against it and heard nothing. Then the lock clicked and the door swung open.

Aleena stood in the doorway.

She had a small makeup bag in one hand. Her eyes were wide. Startled. Innocent.

'Oh,' she breathed. 'I'm so sorry. I didn't think anyone was home.'

I stared at her. 'What are you doing in my bathroom?'

'I—' She touched her throat. 'Rhodes told me I could freshen up before the foundation meeting. I didn't mean to intrude.'

She slipped past me before I could respond. Her perfume lingered in the air. That cloying floral scent. It made my stomach turn.

I stepped into the bathroom. Everything looked normal. Towels folded. Sink clean. The cabinet under the sink was slightly ajar.

I crouched down and opened it fully.

My prenatal vitamins were there. Right where I'd left them. The label faced outward. The bottle was sealed.

I picked it up and turned it over in my hands. It felt right. Looked right.

I told myself I was being paranoid.

I put the bottle back and stood up. My reflection stared back at me from the mirror. The cut on my temple had scabbed over. A thin dark line against pale skin.

I left the bathroom and went back to the kitchen. Aleena was gone. The penthouse was silent again.

I finished slicing the strawberries. I ate them standing at the counter. They tasted like nothing.

---

The next morning, Aleena arrived at Cunningham Tower at seven forty-five.

She wore a pale blue cardigan and jeans with a small tear at the knee. Her eyes were red. Her hands shook as she pressed the elevator button for the executive floor.

Rhodes was in his office reviewing quarterly reports when his assistant knocked.

'Mr. Cunningham, Miss Fox is here to see you. She says it's urgent.'

Rhodes frowned. He glanced at his watch. 'Send her in.'

Aleena stepped through the door and closed it softly behind her. She didn't sit. She stood in the center of the room with her arms wrapped around herself.

'I'm sorry,' she whispered. 'I know you're busy. I didn't know who else to go to.'

Rhodes set his pen down. 'What happened?'

Her breath hitched. She pulled her phone from her pocket with trembling fingers and held it out to him.

'She's been texting me,' Aleena said. 'For weeks. I didn't want to say anything because I know she's your wife, and I didn't want to cause problems, but—'

Rhodes took the phone.

The screen showed a thread of messages. The contact name was blank. Just a phone number.

**Stay away from my husband.**

**If I see you near him again, you'll regret it.**

**You think you're special? You're nothing. I can make you disappear.**

The timestamps stretched back three weeks.

Rhodes's jaw tightened. He scrolled through the messages slowly. His thumb moved with deliberate precision.

'When did this start?' His voice was flat.

Aleena's eyes filled with tears. 'After the gala last month. She cornered me in the parking garage. She told me I was a mistake. That you were only being kind to me out of pity, and that if I didn't leave on my own, she'd make sure I had no choice.'

'Why didn't you tell me?'

'Because I was scared.' Her voice broke. 'She's your wife, Rhodes. I'm just—I'm nobody. Who would believe me?'

Rhodes handed the phone back. He stood and walked to the window. His hands were in his pockets. His shoulders were rigid.

'You should have come to me immediately,' he said.

Aleena wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. 'I didn't want to be a burden.'

'You're not a burden.' He turned to face her. His expression was carved from stone. 'You're under my protection. That means something.'

She nodded. A small, fragile motion.

'I'll handle this,' Rhodes said. 'She won't bother you again.'

Aleena's lips trembled into something that looked like gratitude. 'Thank you,' she whispered.

She left the office quietly. The door clicked shut behind her.

Rhodes stood at the window for a long time. Below him, the city moved. Cars and people and light.

He pulled his phone from his jacket and opened his contacts. He stared at Sofia's name.

His thumb hovered over the call button.

He didn't press it.

Instead, he slid the phone back into his pocket and returned to his desk. He had a board meeting in twenty minutes. He would deal with his wife tonight.

Outside in the hallway, Aleena walked toward the elevator with her head down and her hands steady.

She slipped into the restroom on the thirty-second floor and locked herself in a stall. She pulled out her phone—the real one, not the burner—and deleted the fake text thread from the screen.

Then she opened her camera roll and looked at the photo she'd taken yesterday.

A bottle of prenatal vitamins. Label clear. Brand visible.

She smiled.

She deleted the photo and flushed the phone's cache.

Then she fixed her makeup in the mirror, smoothed her cardigan, and walked out into the morning like nothing had happened at all.