Chapter 4 - THE BABY ISN’T HISThe lock clicked.
I stayed in the shadowed alcove.
The bedroom door opened only a few inches.
Ryan looked into the hallway.
His white designer shirt was partly unbuttoned at the collar.
His dark hair was no longer perfectly arranged.
He glanced left.
Then right.
He did not see me.
“Clear,” he whispered.
Claire appeared behind him.
Her blonde curls rested against the shoulders of her champagne-colored dress.
One hand covered her belly.
The other rested on Ryan’s back.
She looked peaceful.
That hurt more than panic would have.
Ryan leaned down and kissed her.
Not quickly.
Not like two people who had made one terrible mistake.
Like two people who had done this many times.
I recorded everything.
When they separated, Claire noticed the roses.
Her expression changed.
She stared at the crushed petals outside the bedroom.
“Ryan.”
“What?”
“Those weren’t there before.”
He looked down.
Fear moved across his face.
“Did a housekeeper come upstairs?”
“I sent everyone home.”
Ryan bent and touched a broken stem.
The flowers were fresh.
He knew it.
Claire stepped into the hallway.
“Daniel?”
I did not answer.
She walked toward the staircase.
Ryan caught her arm.
“If he’s here, we need to know.”
“We?”
Claire pulled away.
“You need to leave.”
“You said he wouldn’t be back.”
“And now there are flowers outside the door.”
Ryan glanced toward the emergency staircase at the end of the hall.
“I’ll use the service exit.”
“No. The cameras.”
“You disabled them.”
“Only in the bedroom.”
Their whispers had become frantic.
I remained motionless.
Claire returned to the bedroom and picked up her phone.
She called me.
My phone vibrated in my hand.
Both of them froze.
The sound came from the alcove.
Claire slowly turned.
I stepped into the hallway.
Her face lost all color.
Ryan moved backward.
For a moment, none of us spoke.
Claire stared at the roses.
Then at my phone.
Then at me.
“Daniel.”
I had imagined this confrontation in the seconds outside the door.
In every version, I shouted.
In one, I struck Ryan.
In another, I destroyed the room.
But when the moment arrived, my voice was almost gentle.
“Finish the sentence.”
Claire’s lips trembled.
“What sentence?”
“The baby isn’t his.”
Ryan looked at her.
She looked at him.
I raised my phone so they could see the recording timer.
“Tell me whose child you believe she is.”
Claire placed both hands over her belly.
Then, without warning, she screamed.
May you like
“Ryan, get away from me!”
Her performance began instantly.
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