A cold chill settled in my stomach.

I remembered the night we celebrated his promotion at Apex.

He had brought home a bottle of expensive champagne.

He had asked me so many questions about the Romano security protocols that night.

“How does the dual-authorization work?” he had asked, pouring me more wine.

“Do you use a physical token, or is it a digital key?”

At the time, I thought he was just interested in my career.

I thought he was proud of my promotion to executive secretary.

Now, the memories felt different.

They felt like a series of calculated moves.

I opened my personal email archiver on my phone.

I searched for emails from Marcus during our first few months of dating.

Almost every weekend, he had suggested we work together at his apartment.

He would set up his laptop next to mine on the kitchen table.

He always made sure I had a fresh cup of coffee.

He would touch my shoulder, kiss my temple, and look at my screen.

“You work too hard, babe,” he would say.

“Let me help you organize these files.”