My husband left me and our six children for a fitness coach – I didn’t even have time to think of revenge before fate caught up with him.

Is Dad going to make pancakes?

‘Not today, sweetheart,’ I said softly and kissed her curls.

I got up before I completely collapsed again. I continued working on breakfast, the lunchboxes, the missing socks, and a lost shoe, which somehow made two children grumpy.

I was pouring milk a few hours later when my phone rang.

Mark, Cole’s colleague, the one my children trusted enough to climb on as if it were a climbing frame.

I pressed the phone to my ear. “Mark, I can’t—”

‘Paige,’ he interrupted her. His voice was sharp and controlled, but there was panic underneath. ‘You have to come. Now.’

“Mark, I can’t—”

‘Where?’ I stopped pouring. ‘What’s going on?’

‘I’m at the office,’ he said. ‘Cole is in a glass meeting room. The HR department is here. Darren is here too.’

What did Cole do?

Mark hesitated for a moment. “The company credit card. It is blocked.”

I grabbed the edge of the counter. “Marked for what? I didn’t even know he had access to it.”

“Hotel stays. Gifts. All related to the trainer at the on-site gym. Alyssa. She is a supplier under our wellness contract, and the compliance department has been monitoring Cole’s expenses for weeks. They only found out last night that it was an affair. They only knew that he was spending quite a lot of money on it.”

What is going on?

My stomach churned.

“The company’s phone plan had flagged him as suspicious,” Mark continued. “And the charges matched the same dates. They don’t need rumors about a romance. They have proof.”

I closed my eyes. “And why are you telling me this?”

Mark took a deep breath. “Because Cole thinks he can cover it up. He called you ’emotional’. He said he could always come back home, because he knows how to deal with you.”

I looked at the breakfast table, at the children walking around it and thinking about what they were going to do that day.

Why are you telling me this?

“I have six children, Mark. Leah is twelve. I cannot hide this from her.”

‘I know,’ he agreed. ‘That is why you must come.’

I pressed silent. My youngest pulled at the hem of my shirt.