The Woman in the Gallery
Maya's POV
The bag of takeout slipped from my hands and hit the floor.
Through the gallery window, I could see Sebastian. But he wasn't alone.
A woman with long dark hair stood close to him. Too close. She was touching his arm, leaning in like she was telling him a secret. And Sebastian wasn't moving away.
My stomach twisted into a knot. I'd spent all afternoon making this surprise perfect. I'd ordered his favorite Thai food, practiced what I'd say, even bought a new bracelet to give him. For three months, we'd been together, and every day felt like a dream. Until now.
I bent down and picked up the food bag with shaky hands. Maybe I was seeing things wrong. Maybe she was just a customer. But something about the way they stood together made my chest ache.
The bell above the door chimed as I pushed it open.
Sebastian's head snapped toward me. For just a second, his eyes went wide with surprise. Or was it panic? Then he smiled his normal smile, the one that usually made me feel like the most important person in the world.
"Maya! What are you doing here?"
The woman turned around, and I felt my breath catch. She was beautiful. Not just pretty—beautiful. The kind of beautiful that made you forget what you were going to say.
"I brought dinner," I said, holding up the bag. My voice sounded small and far away. "Surprise."
"That's so sweet." Sebastian walked over and kissed my cheek, but it felt different somehow. Wrong. "Maya, this is Victoria. She's an art collector from New York."
Victoria smiled at me, but it didn't reach her eyes. "So you're Maya. Sebastian has told me so much about you."
He had? When? Why had he never mentioned Victoria to me?
"Nice to meet you," I managed to say.
"Victoria was just leaving," Sebastian said quickly. "We finished our meeting."
"Oh, but Sebastian, we haven't discussed the price for the collection yet." Victoria's voice was smooth like honey. "Unless you want me to come back tomorrow? We could have dinner and talk business."
My hands tightened around the takeout bag. Was she asking my boyfriend on a date right in front of me?
"I'll email you the details," Sebastian said firmly. "Maya and I have plans tonight."
Victoria's smile got bigger, but colder. "Of course. It was lovely meeting you, Maya." She walked past me toward the door, and I caught a whiff of expensive perfume. "See you soon, Sebastian."
The door closed behind her, and we were alone.
"So," I said, trying to keep my voice normal. "Victoria seems nice."
"She's interested in buying some pieces for her gallery in New York. It's a really big deal." Sebastian took the food bag from me and set it on his desk. "I'm sorry you had to walk in on that. I know it probably looked weird."
"It did look a little weird," I admitted. "She was standing really close to you."
"Victoria's like that with everyone. It's just how she is." He wrapped his arms around me. "But I'm really glad you're here. This is exactly what I needed after a long day."
I wanted to believe him. I wanted everything to be okay. But something in my gut told me it wasn't.
We ate the Thai food and talked about our days. Sebastian seemed normal again, laughing at my story about the kid in my tutoring class who tried to convince me that two plus two equals five. But every few minutes, his phone would buzz, and he'd glance at it with a strange expression.
"Do you need to get that?" I asked after the fifth buzz.
"No, it's nothing important."
Another buzz.
"Sebastian, seriously, if it's work—"
"It's not work." His voice came out sharper than usual. Then he sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "I'm sorry. I've just been stressed lately. There's some stuff going on that I need to handle."
"What kind of stuff? Maybe I can help."
"It's complicated." He looked at me, and for a moment, I saw something in his eyes. Fear? Guilt? "Maya, there's something I need to tell you."
My heart started pounding. Those words never meant anything good. "Okay."
His phone rang. Not a text this time—an actual call. Sebastian looked at the screen and his face went pale.
"I have to take this," he said, standing up. "Just give me two minutes."
He walked to the back office and closed the door. I sat there, staring at my half-eaten pad thai, feeling sick. What was going on? What did he need to tell me? And who kept calling him?
I tried not to listen, but the gallery was quiet, and Sebastian's voice carried through the door.
"I told you not to call me... No, I can't do that... Because she doesn't know... You promised you'd stay away..."
She doesn't know what? Who promised to stay away?
My phone buzzed in my pocket. A text from an unknown number.
I almost didn't open it. After those creepy messages months ago, unknown numbers made me nervous. But something made me look.
It was a photo.
Sebastian and Victoria. At a restaurant. But they weren't sitting across from each other like business partners. They were on the same side of the booth, and Victoria's head was on his shoulder. The photo was dated three days ago. Three days ago, when Sebastian told me he had to work late.
My hands started shaking so hard I nearly dropped the phone.
Another text came through: "Ask him about the ring."
What ring?
The office door opened. Sebastian came out, looking tired and worried. When he saw my face, he froze.
"Maya? What's wrong?"
I held up my phone, showing him the photo. "Who sent this to me?"
He came closer and looked at the screen. All the color drained from his face.
"That's not what it looks like."
"Then what is it?" My voice cracked. "Because it looks like you lied to me. It looks like you were with her when you said you were working."
"I can explain—"
"Then explain! Explain why you're having secret dinners with Victoria! Explain who keeps calling you! Explain what I don't know!" I was yelling now, and I didn't care. Tears were running down my face. "And explain what ring they're talking about!"
Sebastian went completely still. His mouth opened, then closed. He looked like someone had punched him in the stomach.
"Maya, please sit down. I need to tell you something, and it's going to be hard to hear."
"I don't want to sit down. Just tell me the truth."
He took a deep breath. "Victoria isn't just an art collector. She's my—"
The gallery door burst open.
Two police officers walked in, their faces serious and official.
"Sebastian Cross?" one of them said.
Sebastian's eyes went wide with fear. "Yes?"
"You need to come with us. We have some questions about a missing person's case."
My heart stopped. "What? What missing person?"
The officer looked at me, then back at Sebastian. "A woman named Amanda Price. She was last seen entering this gallery six months ago. Her family reported her missing, and we just found some of her belongings in the storage room here."
I felt like the floor was dropping out from under me. Six months ago. That was before Sebastian and I started dating.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Sebastian said, but his voice was shaking. "I've never heard that name."
The second officer held up a plastic evidence bag. Inside was a phone. "This was found hidden behind a painting in your storage room. It belongs to Amanda Price. Want to explain how it got there?"
Sebastian looked at me, and I saw something in his eyes that made my blood run cold.
Terror.
"Maya," he whispered. "I didn't do anything. You have to believe me."
But as the officers led him toward the door in handcuffs, one question burned in my mind:
Did I really know Sebastian at all?