Chapter 10: The Confession I Never Expected

For several seconds, I couldn't speak.

“It started before that?” I finally asked.

Kostas breathed heavily on the other end of the line.

“Yes.”

“How long?”

“Almost a year.”

I closed my eyes.

Almost a year.

That meant most of the memories I had treasured with him had existed alongside another relationship.

“Why are you telling me now?”

“Because you deserve to know.”

I laughed quietly.

“No, Kostas.”

“You're telling me because you've been caught.”

He didn't deny it.

“What happened between you and Eleni?” I asked.

“It started after her divorce.”

“She was having a difficult time, and I was helping her.”

“Helping her became something else.”

I stared at the photograph on my table.

“Did you love her?”

There was a long silence.

Then he answered.

“I cared about her.”

“That's not what I asked.”

Another silence.

“Yes.”

The word was barely audible.

But I heard it.

My chest tightened.

I had spent months wondering whether I had imagined everything.

I hadn't.

“And me?” I asked.

“I loved you too.”

I shook my head even though he couldn't see me.

“You can't love two people and treat one of them like a secret.”

“I know.”

“You knew exactly what you were doing.”

“I was afraid.”

“Of what?”

“Of losing you.”

I almost laughed again.

“So you kept me while you decided whether you wanted her?”

He didn't answer.

That silence was enough.

I ended the call.

My hands were shaking, but I refused to cry.

Instead, I opened the folder on my laptop.

I looked at every piece of evidence I had collected.

The hotel reservation.

The delivery order.

Mason's photograph.

Eleni's threatening message.

And now Kostas's confession.

I saved the recording of the call.

Then I leaned back in my chair.

For the first time, I didn't feel like I was investigating a mystery.

I was simply documenting the truth.

That night, I received a message from Eleni.

“Kostas told me he spoke to you.”

I didn't respond.

Another message arrived.

“I know you're angry.”

Then another.

“But you need to accept that he chose me.”

I stared at the screen.

She had finally said it.

Not an apology.

Not an excuse.

A declaration.

I typed one sentence.

“Then you should have nothing to worry about.”

I sent it and blocked her again.

The next morning, I received an unexpected call from my landlord.

He told me the apartment next door was becoming available.

I had always liked that building.

It was quiet, close to work, and had large windows overlooking the park.

I went to see it that afternoon.

The apartment was smaller than Kostas's place.

The kitchen was old.

The walls needed painting.

But when I stood in the living room, I felt something I hadn't felt in months.

It was mine.

No one else's fingerprints were registered on the door.

No one could decide whether I was allowed inside.

No one could make me feel like a guest.

I signed the lease that evening.

When I returned home, I started packing again.

This time, I wasn't packing to leave someone.

I was packing to begin again.

As I folded the last of my clothes, my phone rang.

Kostas.

I didn't answer.

A voicemail appeared a few seconds later.

His voice was quiet.

“Romy, I know I've lost the right to ask anything from you.”

“But there's something else you should know.”

I stopped folding clothes.

“The reason Eleni was so determined to get you out of my life wasn't just because she wanted me.”

“There was something she was afraid you would discover.”

The message ended.

I stared at my phone.

For the first time since this nightmare began, I wondered what secret could possibly be worse than the affair itself.