He was talking with several guests, occasionally glancing toward the dance floor.
Earlier, Brandon had introduced him as Jessica’s husband.
Matthew Monroe.
He worked in corporate accounting and had been married to Jessica for twelve years.
I remembered their introduction near the entrance.
Matthew seemed friendly.
He shook my hand and joked that attending your spouse’s high school reunion was like visiting a museum where everyone insisted the exhibits were still young.
I’d laughed.
He had seemed kind.
Now he was sitting three tables away, unaware that his wife was sharing drinks and cake with my husband.
I looked down at my phone.
Then I found his number in the digital contact card he’d shared when we discussed our industries earlier.
I opened the video.
Trimmed the beginning.
Checked the length.
Twenty-three seconds exactly.
Then I sent it.
“Matthew, I think you should see this. I’m not trying to embarrass anyone, but I would want to know if our positions were reversed.”
I pressed send.
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then I watched Matthew’s phone light up.
He glanced down.
Opened the message.
And the smile disappeared from his face.
He watched the video once.
Then again.
I saw his jaw tighten.
His eyes moved toward the dessert table.
Brandon was laughing at something Jessica had said.
Matthew stared at them for several seconds.
Then he slowly stood.
For one moment, I thought he might march across the ballroom.
Instead, he looked toward me.
Our eyes met.
He gave the smallest possible nod.
Then he walked toward the hallway.
My phone vibrated.
“Thank you. Could we speak privately for a minute?”
I looked toward Brandon.
He was still beside Jessica.
Neither appeared to have noticed Matthew leave.
I picked up my purse.
Then I followed him into the hallway.
Matthew stood near a window overlooking the parking lot.
His expression was controlled, but his hands were trembling slightly.
“Lauren.”
I nodded.
“Matthew.”
He looked down at his phone.
“Is this from tonight?”
“Yes.”
He swallowed.
“Just now?”
“Yes.”
For several seconds, he didn’t speak.
Then he looked directly at me.
“Did she kiss him when she arrived?”
My stomach tightened.
I hesitated.
Matthew closed his eyes.
“She did, didn’t she?”
I nodded.
“Yes.”
He looked away.
For a long moment, neither of us spoke.
Then he asked whether Brandon and Jessica had been spending much time together.
I explained what I’d seen.
The greeting.
The dance.
The shared glass.
The cake.
The jokes about being the perfect couple.
Matthew listened without interrupting.
When I finished, he gave a quiet, humorless laugh.
“She told me they barely talked anymore.”
I felt cold.
“Brandon said the same thing.”
Matthew looked toward the ballroom doors.
Then he said something that made my stomach tighten.
“Jessica told me last week that she wanted to attend the reunion alone.”
I stared at him.
“Why?”
“She said it would be awkward having me there while she caught up with old classmates.”
He rubbed his forehead.
“I told her I wouldn’t interfere. I just wanted to meet the people she’d talked about for years.”
I nodded slowly.
“She eventually agreed.”
Matthew looked at me.
“Now I understand why she didn’t want me here.”
I didn’t know what to say.
Then he asked, “Has Brandon been talking about Jessica a lot?”
I hesitated.
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“A few months.”
Matthew sighed.
“Same.”
I studied his expression.
He looked exhausted rather than surprised.
“Has something happened before?”
Matthew looked down.
For several seconds, he considered his answer.
Then he said, “I don’t know.”
He paused.
“But I’ve been worried about them for a while.”
My stomach tightened.
“Why?”
Matthew reached into his jacket and removed his phone.
He opened a message thread.
Then he looked at me.
“Two weeks ago, Jessica told me she was visiting her sister in Cincinnati.”
I waited.
“Her sister lives in Dayton.”
My heart began pounding.
Matthew continued.
“She didn’t come home until almost midnight.”
He looked toward the ballroom.
“Brandon was in Cincinnati that day, wasn’t he?”
I froze.
Two weeks earlier, Brandon had told me he was attending a regional sales meeting in Cincinnati.
He left before sunrise.
Returned after ten.
And said the client dinner had run late.
I stared at Matthew.
“How do you know that?”
His expression changed.
“Jessica mentioned it.”
I felt cold.
“What did she say?”
He looked uncomfortable.
“She said Brandon had been in Cincinnati recently and that they’d missed a chance to meet.”
I closed my eyes.
They had both been in the same city.
On the same day.
And both returned home late.
That didn’t prove they’d met.
But it was enough to make me question everything Brandon had told me.
Matthew watched my face.
“You didn’t know.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
He sighed.
“Neither did I.”
For a moment, I felt the strange companionship of two people discovering that their marriages might contain the same hidden story.
Then Matthew put away his phone.
“I’m not going to confront them here.”
I looked at him.
“Neither am I.”
He nodded.
“But I think we need to find out what’s actually been happening.”
I took a breath.
“Yes.”
We exchanged numbers.
Then Matthew returned toward the ballroom.
I stayed by the window for another minute.
I wanted to cry.
But I knew the worst thing I could do was return to the table and pretend I had no questions.
When I entered the ballroom, Brandon was finally sitting down.
Jessica was beside him.
Not at Matthew’s table.
At ours.
She had moved her chair closer to Brandon’s.
Their shoulders were almost touching.
Brandon looked up when he saw me.
“Where’d you go?”
I set my purse on the table.
“Outside.”
He frowned.
“Everything okay?”
I looked toward Jessica.
She smiled.
“Lauren, you missed the funniest story.”
I sat down.
“Did I?”
Jessica laughed.
“Brandon was telling everyone about the time we got caught sneaking into the football stadium.”
He smiled.
