The Vitamin of Betrayal

Marcus palmed his daily vitamin—the same B-complex he'd taken for fifteen years—and stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. At forty-two, he looked exactly like what he was: a man hollowed out by secrets.

Downstairs, their golden retriever, Buster, thumped his tail against the floorboards. The only living thing in this house that still loved him without conditions.

"You're quiet tonight," Elena said from the bedroom doorway. She'd taken to watching him like this lately—still, silent, offering only riddles when he asked what was wrong. She'd become a sphinx in their marriage, guarding some ancient truth he wasn't permitted to know.

"Long day at the office."

"They're all long days lately."

Marcus didn't answer. He couldn't tell her that his pharmaceutical company wasn't developing a new vitamin supplement at all. He was undercover—a corporate spy hired to steal research from their competitors. The job had promised excitement. Instead, it delivered only late nights, whiskey, and a woman who called herself Fox.

Fox had appeared at the industry conference three months ago—red hair, sharp smile, eyes that measured his worth in seconds. She worked for the competition. She knew exactly who he was. What he was. And she'd propositioned him anyway: help her steal the research, split the profits, disappear together like smoke.

"Marcus?" Elena's voice cracked. "Buster's sick. The vet says—" She stopped, her face crumbling. "It's probably nothing. He's just old."

The dog. Of course. Even that was falling apart.

Marcus felt something shift inside him—a sudden, violent clarity about what he was becoming. He thought about Fox's offer, about the money, about starting over with someone new. Then he looked at Elena, really looked at her, and saw the woman who'd nursed her mother through cancer, who'd stood by him through three failed startups, who'd kept their marriage alive when he'd been too foolish to appreciate it.

"What would you do," he asked, "if you found out I wasn't who you thought I was?"

Elena studied him for a long moment. Then she smiled, sad and knowing. "I'd ask myself why my husband felt he had to become someone else to be worth loving."

The sphinx had given him her answer after all.

Marcus walked to his home office, dialed a number he'd memorized but never called. Fox answered on the second ring.

"I'm out," he said.

"Marcus, honey, don't be—"

"No. Listen carefully. I'm not stealing anything. And I'm telling them everything—including about you."

He hung up before she could respond. Back in the bedroom, Elena was asleep. Buster rested his chin on the edge of the mattress, watching them both. Marcus took his vitamin bottle from the nightstand and dropped it in the trash.

Tomorrow, he'd come clean. About everything. Whatever happened, at least he'd finally be real.