His Love Is Not Visible Chapter 03
In early February, Salt Lake City got its first heavy snow of the year.
Vanessa had been back for exactly one week.
I was escorting a client out of a downtown hotel when I saw Garrett and Vanessa step out of the elevator together.
For a second, my mind went completely blank.
Garrett walked Vanessa to a waiting car before turning back toward the hotel entrance. I had just seen my client off.
We looked at each other through the revolving door.
After a long hesitation, I asked, “Was that Vanessa?”
Garrett nodded.
“Yes.”
He didn’t explain.
We drove home in separate cars.
I knew Garrett wasn’t a man of many words. But after seeing how he was with Vanessa, I could no longer blame his silence on his personality.
He simply didn’t care enough to explain.
The next day, a gossip account posted photos from the hotel. The pictures were also sent anonymously to the dance foundation Vanessa was about to join, implying she was involved with her married ex-boyfriend.
Garrett came home that night, his expression grim.
The moment he walked in, he fixed his eyes on me.
“Laura, were you the one who sent those photos?”
“What photos?”
He gave a cold laugh.
“Still pretending?”
“Did you follow me last night just to take those pictures? To prove I was cheating? To prove she and I were back together?”
He held out his phone, and only then did I understand what had happened.
Garrett had already decided I was the culprit.
“These rumors could cost her the contract.”
“She trained in London for three years. Dance is the most important thing in her life.”
“Do you have to ruin her to be satisfied?”
So that’s what Garrett thought of me.
My nose stung, and my eyes burned.
“Garrett, if you two did nothing wrong, a few pictures outside a hotel can’t prove anything.”
“She knows you’re married. If you were taking your ex to a hotel, why didn’t you think about her contract then?”
“If she’s going to be seen with a married ex, shouldn’t she consider how people might interpret it?”
Garrett’s jaw tightened.
“Laura.”
“Vanessa was my first love. I hadn’t let her go when I married you. You’ve always known that.”
“You were fine with it three years ago. Why does it suddenly bother you now?”
Before we got married, I had known he had a first love.
But I never imagined he would one day use it as a weapon against me.
His words cut me to the bone.
In his mind, Vanessa could do no wrong. But I could become a vindictive schemer, taking secret photos and spreading rumors without a shred of proof.
“Garrett, I really don’t want to see you right now.”
The tears fell anyway.
I hated crying during an argument. It always felt like begging him to soften up.
That was the first real fight we ever had.
Afterward, neither of us was the first to reach out.