Chapter 7 - THE MAN IN THE MIRRORRyan pulled out his phone.
I saw the smart-home application on his screen.
“Put it down.”
He hesitated.
“Now.”
He placed the phone on the dresser.
The deletion status had reached twelve percent.
I disconnected the mansion from the internet.
The progress stopped.
Claire stared at Ryan.
“You said you didn’t have access.”
“I didn’t know I did.”
“You installed the financial dashboard,” I said. “The permissions were connected.”
Ryan looked at the mirror.
For the first time, real panic appeared in his face.
“What does it record?”
“Diagnostic sessions. Voice commands. Motion clips.”
Claire moved toward the wall control panel.
I stepped between her and the mirror.
“Don’t.”
She stopped.
In the reflection, the three of us formed a grotesque family portrait.
Claire in her elegant maternity dress.
Ryan in the shirt he had worn while kissing my wife.
Me in the dark suit I had worn to negotiate a hotel acquisition that suddenly meant nothing.
The mirror displayed a recovery menu.
I selected the latest buffer.
A video appeared.
The room, twenty minutes earlier.
Claire stood in front of the mirror.
Ryan approached from behind.
He placed his hand on her belly.
He kissed it.
“My little one.”
The recording continued.
Claire smiled at his reflection.
Then Ryan asked the question I had heard outside.
“Does he know the baby isn’t his?”
“No,” she answered. “I hid it very carefully.”
The image showed her face clearly.
No coercion.
No fear.
No misunderstanding.
Ryan looked at Claire.
“You were going to blame me.”
She did not deny it.
The video continued.
“After Daniel signs,” Claire said, “the mansion moves into the new trust.”
“And the money?”
“Five million first. More after the divorce.”
Ryan smiled in the recording.
“What happens when Daniel asks for a paternity test?”
“He won’t. By then, everyone will believe he abandoned his pregnant wife.”
The real Ryan sat slowly on the edge of the bed.
“You never told me that part.”
Claire glared at him.
“You knew enough.”
“No. You said he would leave quietly.”
“You were happy to spend his money.”
“And you were happy to lie about the baby.”
Their alliance was collapsing in front of me.
I saved three copies of the recording.
One to an encrypted drive.
One to my attorney.
One to a secure company server.
Then the mirror displayed a list of earlier motion clips.
There were dozens.
Dates extending back six months.
Ryan saw them too.
His face changed.
Claire whispered, “Daniel, don’t open those.”
I selected the oldest recording.
The mirror showed Claire alone in the bedroom, holding a medical envelope.
She opened it.
Read the contents.
Then called someone.
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“I have the real result,” she said.
“It isn’t what we expected.”
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