Chapter 11 - The Trap Closes
I lied.
I said I was visiting a construction site.
Claire pretended to believe me.
We both knew she did not.
When I returned home, Marcus was sitting in my living room.
Claire stood beside the fireplace.
A glass of whiskey waited for me.
I did not touch it.
Marcus smiled.
“Claire said you’ve been behaving strangely.”
I looked at him.
“I’ve been busy.”
“Have you felt angry?”
“No.”
“Paranoid?”
“No.”
“Suspicious of people close to you?”
Claire watched me carefully.
There it was.
They were trying to create the record.
I smiled.
“Only suspicious of my competitors.”
Marcus chuckled.
Claire did not.
Then Mara entered carrying Noah.
Her eyes briefly met mine.
She had been released from the bedroom but remained trapped in the house.
Claire controlled her phone.
Her transportation.
Her access to Lily.
I had arranged guards at Lily’s hospital room through Rebecca.
Claire did not know that yet.
Dinner passed slowly.
Then Claire announced something unexpected.
“I think we should renew our vows tomorrow.”
I stared at her.
“Tomorrow?”
“Just us.”
“Here.”
Marcus smiled.
“Life is unpredictable.”
I almost admired the cruelty.
Tomorrow was Friday.
The night I was supposed to die.
Claire reached across the table.
“Say yes.”
I looked into the eyes of the woman I had married.
The woman who may have killed my first son.
The woman preparing to destroy Mara.
The woman who had lied about carrying my children.
I smiled.
“Yes.”
Claire relaxed.
Later, Mara slipped a note beneath my office door.
SHE KNOWS.
I opened the door.
The hallway was empty.
On the paper was another sentence.
SHE FOUND THE BURNER PHONE MOVED.
I closed my eyes.
I had replaced it exactly where I found it.
But apparently not perfectly enough.
My phone buzzed.
A message from Claire.
COME UPSTAIRS.
I walked to the bedroom.
Claire stood beside the window.
The burner phone was in her hand.
May you like
She smiled.
“Looking for this?”
