Chapter 3 - The Confrontation
Vanessa arrived at the mansion two hours later.
She swept through the double doors looking like a magazine cover.
Cashmere sweater. Designer sunglasses.
Perfectly glossed smile.
I was hiding in the kitchen with Lily, watching through the crack in the door.
Marcus was waiting in the foyer.
“Darling,” Vanessa cooed, reaching up to kiss him.
Marcus stepped back.
Her smile faltered.
“Is something wrong, Marcus?”
“Where is it, Vanessa?”
“Where is what?”
She laughed. A delicate, practiced sound.
“The phone,” Marcus said.
Vanessa’s eyes flickered. Just for a second.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Maya’s phone. The one you took from her cleaning cart yesterday at 2:14 p.m.”
Her face went pale.
“Marcus, are you listening to the help now? That maid is lying.”
“The maid didn’t tell me.”
Marcus pointed at the ceiling.
At the tiny, discreet camera hidden in the chandelier.
“The security system told me. I watched you take it.”
Silence crashed through the massive hallway.
Vanessa’s beautiful face twisted into something ugly.
“It was an accident,” she stammered. “I thought it was my old phone. I threw it away when I realized.”
“You threw it away?”
“Yes. In a dumpster downtown. It was junk anyway.”
Marcus stared at her.
He didn't yell. He didn't scream.
That was the terrifying thing about Marcus Cole.
His anger was entirely silent.
“The wedding is postponed,” he said.
Vanessa gasped.
“Marcus, you can’t be serious! Over a maid’s trashy phone?”
“Leave your key on the console, Vanessa. My lawyers will call yours.”
He turned his back on her.
Vanessa stood there, trembling with rage.
Then her eyes darted toward the kitchen.
May you like
She saw me.
And the look she gave me promised absolute destruction.
