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Chapter 07 - Playback
Andre picked up the phone like evidence, not property.
He kept the screen angled away, unreadable, respecting the fact that the device belonged to Maya and the truth inside it belonged first to her. When the recording played, the volume stayed low, but every word carried.
Evelyn’s voice filled the suite.
“You have influence over him. More than is useful right now.”
Then Maya’s voice, tired but steady.
“I am his wife.”
Evelyn again, calm enough to sound monstrous.
“Yes. That is what makes this difficult.”
Andre’s jaw tightened.
He listened to less than a minute. He did not need the whole recording to understand the shape of the betrayal. Evelyn had entered the suite to provoke his pregnant wife, document weakness, and position herself as the calm interpreter of Maya’s behavior.
Maya closed her eyes.
She looked ashamed, though Andre knew the shame did not belong to her. That made his anger colder.
He placed the phone back exactly where it had been.
Evelyn’s face had lost color beneath its polish.
“You’re hearing fragments,” she said.
Andre stood. “I’m hearing enough.”
“This can still be handled privately.”
“It stopped being private when you came into my wife’s room without permission and tried to turn her fear into strategy.”
Evelyn’s mouth opened, then closed.
Maya leaned against the bed, breathing slowly through the aftershock. The baby shifted under her hand, a small hidden movement that brought fresh tears to her eyes.
Andre saw the movement. Saw her fear. Saw the stain. Saw the phone.
Then he looked back at Evelyn.
May you like
“Leave this suite.”
For the first time all night, Evelyn looked unsure which door still belonged to her.
