Page 79 of The Tenant

Dear Mom,

Well, it happened again. The man I love has betrayed me in the most horrible way.

I know you don’t think I am capable of being loved, and maybe you’re right. You don’t think I deserve a happy life with a decent man. I thought Blake was the one who would prove you wrong, but instead, he made a fool out of me.

How could he do that, Mom? How could he tell me he loves me and that he wants to marry me, then treat me this way?

You always said to let it go. What you really meant is that I should let him get away with it.

But I’m not going to let that happen. I won’t let Blake get away with what he’s done to me.

I’m going to make him pay. Just like Jordan. Just like the rest of them.

Love,

Whitney

50

The next day,I meet Elijah in the park again.

It would be easier to talk on the phone, but he has always been paranoid about phones. Or at least that’s what he claims. Part of me thinks he just wants to see me.

Once again, he has arrived first. Unlike yesterday, he stands up when I arrive, grinning at the sight of me. “Hey,” he says.

“Hey,” I say flatly.

He frowns. “Everything okay?”

I haven’t told anyone what I found out last night. But I have a feeling that out of everyone I know, Elijah can keep a secret. “I found out that Blake is cheating on me.”

“Holy crap,” he blurts out. “What an idiot.”

“Yeah,” I mumble.

“How are you doing?”

I don’t entirely know how to answer that question. I am so hurt and disappointed, I can barely think straight.

But at least I have ensured that I will get something out of this. When I went downstairs to the living room last night, I found a flash drive that Blake keeps in his briefcase. He likes to keep a backup of all his files. He’s always so dependable. I copied all his clients’ records onto my own flash drive. I intend to sell everything I can to the competition. Not only will I make a pretty penny doing this, enough to rebuild my life, but when his boss catches wind of it, he will never work in this industry again.

I mean, it’s not as good as pushing him off the roof, but it’s something.

“I’ll be okay,” I finally say. “So…what did you find out about that waitress?”

“This information wasnoteasy to find.” Elijah’s expression is grim. “But it turns out you were right. She’s using your name and your Social Security number.”

Even though I had suspected it, this news fills me with rage, even worse than when I found out Blake was cheating on me. She stole my identity. She stole my name. It wasn’t hers to take, but she took it anyway. Thatbitch.

“Her real name is Amanda Lenhart,” he goes on. “She was a PhD candidate in biology.”

She gave up a life as a biologist and now she’s waiting tables. Whatever prompted her to steal my name, it must have been really bad.

“Do you know why she needed a new identity?” I ask.

He shakes his head. It’s frustrating that he doesn’t know, because Elijah seems to know everything.

“There are no criminal charges against Amanda Lenhart,” he says. “So I’m guessing there was somebody after her. Somebody who might’ve hurt her if they found her.”