Andrew sat in the kitchen, thoughtfully rubbing his chin with his knuckles. For the fifth time, he was looking through the photographs of his fiancée. She looked happy and in love in them. But not with him.
Next to her in the photos was another man, about the same age as Andrew. He had discovered that they met at work. No, they didn’t work together; this man was a client at the company where his girlfriend was employed. She managed contracts with various companies and personally delivered documents to some of the particularly important clients. Apparently, this one was special enough for Emily to get quite close to him.
Andrew began suspecting his fiancée of cheating about two months ago. He noticed she spent long periods on her phone, texting someone. When he asked who was messaging her so late, she always claimed it was work-related.
Then she started coming home late, saying she was swamped with work. But she didn’t seem tired; quite the opposite, she looked pleased and cheerful.
One day, Andrew accidentally found a receipt from a lingerie store. It must have slipped out of her pocket. Nothing unusual, except Andrew hadn’t seen any new underwear. There’s a saying that guys don’t notice new clothes, but Andrew wasn’t like that. He loved watching Emily, admiring her when she emerged beautiful from the shower, always noticing what she wore. And here she was, having bought new lingerie without showing it off. She knew he loved seeing her in lace, yet nothing was said.
Two weeks ago, Andrew saw someone drop Emily off after work. Andrew was never the jealous type and didn’t mind if a colleague drove his fiancée home. But this time, he happened to glance out the window to see a car pull up. It seemed a sixth sense kicked in for Andrew, and he waited to see who would emerge from the car. Eventually, Emily stepped out. But she had sat in the car for a good five minutes. Thirty seconds would’ve been enough to say “thank you” to someone giving you a ride.
Andrew felt like he was becoming paranoid. To avoid making baseless accusations, he hired a private investigator, hopeful that he would report back in a few days saying everything was fine. That his fiancée wasn’t seeing anyone else or being unfaithful.
But today, Andrew’s world collapsed when the detective handed him the photos. While most pictures of her with the man could be explained somehow, one of them depicted her kissing this man, with no other explanation than betrayal.
Perhaps many would have caused a scene or confronted the man in question, even kicked the fiancée out in disgrace. But Andrew wasn’t like that. He wanted to make Emily feel the anxiety and turmoil he had experienced. And he came up with a clever plan.
The next day, he bought a SIM card and inserted it into his old mobile phone. Then, using this number, he sent Emily a photograph. The one where she kissed her lover. No words, just the photo.
She quickly read the message and tried calling the number. But Andrew declined the call and switched off the phone.
In the evening, he eagerly awaited her return. She’d called during the day, probably to ensure everything was alright, but he ignored her, claiming he was busy.
“Hi, darling,” she breezed in, closely watching him.
“Hi,” he smiled, helping her off with her coat. “How was your day?”
“Fine,” she replied cautiously. “And yours?”
“Everything’s fine. Let’s have dinner; I ordered us some food.”
He could see Emily relax a bit, but he wasn’t about to let her off the hook.
As they began to eat, he opened a bottle of wine, pouring it into their glasses.
“Have you settled on a wedding date?” he asked. Emily had been pondering whether to have it in the summer or autumn.
“Yes. I think the end of August, how about that?”
“Great. We should start preparing,” he said, watching her closely. She relaxed completely. If he was talking about the wedding, everything must be fine.
“You know,” he started, “I received a strange message today.”
He enjoyed watching Emily tense up.
“What message?” she asked, her face pale.
“I don’t know,” he shrugged, “someone from an unknown number said they knew a secret. They said if I paid up, they’d reveal it. Can you believe the scam?”
“Of course it’s a scam,” Emily exclaimed. “Just block them, that’s all.”
“That’s what I thought about doing, but I’m curious what else they’ll come up with,” Andrew said with a smirk.
“Don’t wait,” she urged, leaning forward. “I’ve heard these are con artists. They hack into your phone if you keep messaging, then steal your money from cards.”
Holding her breath, Emily waited for Andrew’s response. She needed him to block that number. She realized exactly what the secret was, but she didn’t know it was Andrew behind it.
“How would they even hack in?” Andrew laughed. “I’m not clicking any links or sharing personal info. Besides,” he paused, “what if this person really has vital information? What if it’s about business matters?”
“I wouldn’t take the risk,” Emily said, breathing heavily. “It’s too dangerous.”
“I don’t think so,” Andrew smiled, tidying the table.
All evening, his fiancée hovered around him. Andrew knew she wanted to get to his phone and put that number on a blacklist. He had indeed sent himself the message and decided to have a bit more fun.
Saying he was going to shower, he left his phone on the table. He was sure Emily would seize the opportunity to block the number, which she did.
While she relaxed watching TV, thinking the threat was gone, Andrew removed the number from the blacklist, then snuck to the kitchen to send himself another message.
“Look, that number’s messaged again,” he said innocently.
“What?!”
Emily almost added that it wasn’t possible since she had sorted it out, but she couldn’t admit she had blocked the number personally.
“Imagine that,” he said, “they claim someone close to me is deceiving me and have proof of it. Funny, right?”
“Yeah,” Emily said, paling again. “I need to make a work call; can I go to the kitchen?”
“Sure,” Andrew smiled.
Obviously, Emily tried calling the number again, but Andrew had turned it off immediately after sending himself the message.
“Were you able to reach anyone?” he asked when she returned.
“No,” she grunted, getting into bed.
The next day, she was visibly on edge. By midday, another message came from that number. She tried calling once more, but the phone was off again.
“Soon your fiancé will know everything,” said the message.
Unable to get through, Emily sent a reply.
“What do you want?”
By the end of the workday, the response arrived.
“Confess yourself, or I’ll do it for you.”
Walking home felt like a march to the gallows for Emily. She expected Andrew to blow up, but he seemed as calm as ever. So she initiated the conversation herself.
“Did any messages come from that number today?”
“From which number? Oh, that one. No, nothing today. Why?”
“No reason, just curious.”
Gradually falling asleep, Andrew texted her another message.
“You have twenty-four hours. The clock’s ticking. I’ve got a video too.”
Andrew didn’t have a video, of course, but he didn’t need it.
Emily awoke to the ding of her phone, read the message, and quickly hid her device under the pillow.
“Who’s texting you this late?” Andrew asked, lying down.
“Oh, just… ads.”
“These advertisers have some nerve,” he sighed. “They have no sense of timing, messaging in the middle of the night.”
Throughout the next day, Emily agonized over what to do. Yes, she had cheated on Andrew. But was it her fault passion swept over her? William was so intriguing, and things between her and Andrew had become too simple. But there was no future with William; he was married. Whereas with Andrew, they were planning a wedding. If she confessed, he’d surely call it off. But if she didn’t, someone might tell him.
She even suspected it was William’s wife who had found out, and when she hysterically explained it to him, William assured her his wife was oblivious and he wanted no trouble, suggesting they shouldn’t see each other anymore before leaving.
By the time Emily returned home from work, she still hadn’t decided what to do. She hopelessly thought maybe the messenger was bluffing and wouldn’t tell Andrew anything. But as they prepared for bed, another message came to Andrew.
“Strange,” he said, “it says an hour left. What’s that about, I wonder?”
Emily closed her eyes, sighed, then sat up to talk.
“Andrew, I have to tell you something…”
“What is it, darling?” he asked with a smile.
“I… I cheated on you,” tears welled in her eyes. “Forgive me! I don’t know how it happened! I love only you! I just couldn’t keep it inside. It’s eating me alive! I’m so ashamed…”
“I see,” Andrew said surprisingly calmly. “But you only confessed because you were forced. Or rather, I forced you.”
“What?” she asked, bewildered.
“It was me who made you confess. I sent you and myself those messages. I might never have been a sadist, but I’ve relished in your unease these past days. Because you can’t imagine how I felt when I learned you were cheating.”
“How could you?” she whispered. “We could’ve just talked…”
“We could have. But I decided this way, I could pay you back. It didn’t ease my pain, sadly. But it did cause you discomfort. Now…”
Andrew looked at her with a triumphant smile.
“I think you understand it’s time for you to go. Oh, and as for calling off the wedding, you’ll be explaining it to our parents and friends yourself. I’ll ensure you tell them the real reason and not make me out to be guilty.”
Emily looked at Andrew, not recognizing the man before her. She hadn’t thought him capable of such a thing.
Silently, she got up and began packing her things. Meanwhile, Andrew played his favorite film, trying to distract from the aching in his chest that wasn’t going away. He knew that, in time, it would. Just as Emily would disappear from his life.
