PART 2: The Gathering Storm
Gregory’s smile didn’t flicker for a single second. He simply raised an eyebrow, pouring himself a glass of water from the kitchen pitcher.
“Oh? What did our little guy say now?” he asked, his tone dripping with practiced, lighthearted amusement.
“He said he saw a blonde woman at the grocery store,” I replied, keeping my voice level, watching his pupils for any sign of a micro-expression. “He told me she looked like the lady who comes over to the house and plays in our bedroom while I’m at work.”
Gregory threw his head back and laughed. It was a rich, warm sound—the laugh of an innocent man who found the imaginative leaps of a five-year-old endlessly charming.
“Kids have such wild imaginations,” he chuckled, shaking his head. “He must have seen the new cleaning service worker we hired last week. You know, the blonde college student the agency sent over? I told you we needed to hire someone to help with the heavy dusting while you’re pulling those grueling twelve-hour shifts at the clinic.”
It was a brilliant lie. Completely plausible, delivered with zero hesitation. If I hadn’t seen my custom anniversary sapphire hanging around that girl’s neck just hours earlier, I might have actually believed him.
“Right,” I said softly, forcing a matching smile. “A cleaning service worker.”
“I’ll make sure to tell her to stay out of our master suite during the day,” Gregory added smoothly, kissing my cheek before turning his attention to his laptop.
That night, as Gregory slept beside me, breathing evenly in the dark, I lay awake with my eyes wide open. The man sleeping next to me wasn’t a partner; he was a stranger wearing a mask.
The next day, during my lunch break, I ordered four discreet, motion-activated security cameras online. I had them shipped to a locker box down the street. Over the weekend, while Gregory took Toby to a birthday party, I installed them: one angled toward the master bedroom entrance, one inside the bedroom itself, one in the hallway, and one cleverly disguised in the home office.
Related Posts
