Chapter 7 - Someone Was Listening
Daniel disconnected the microphone carefully.
It was smaller than my thumbnail.
Professional.
Not something purchased casually.
Julian stared at it on the desk.
“How long has that been there?”
Daniel checked the battery compartment.
“Could be weeks.”
I thought about every conversation held in that room.
Trust documents.
Foundation finances.
Family disagreements.
Julian’s doubts.
My husband’s estate.
Chloe had been in the study many times.
She claimed she loved the books.
I began to understand what she actually loved.
Access.
Julian’s face hardened.
“Call the police.”
I touched his arm.
“We will.”
“But first, we need to know where it was transmitting.”
Daniel connected the device to a diagnostic unit.
Twenty minutes later, he identified the wireless receiver.
It was registered to a laptop.
The laptop’s device name appeared on his screen.
CB-WEDDING.
Chloe Bennett.
Julian left the room.
I found him outside near the garden where his father’s memorial oak stood.
He was crying.
Quietly.
Angrily.
“I was going to marry her in nine days.”
I stood beside him.
“I know.”
“I defended her.”
“Yes.”
“I made Elena feel like a liar.”
“You can apologize.”
He looked at me.
“You knew something was wrong before I did.”
“I had more distance.”
“No.”
“You saw her.”
“I saw what she allowed me to see.”
That was the painful truth.
Chloe had not fooled Julian because he was weak.
She had fooled him because he loved generously.
People like her treat generosity like an unlocked door.
His phone vibrated.
A message from Chloe.
I’m sorry you found the microphone.
Julian stared at the words.
Then another message arrived.
But before you call the police, ask your mother what happened on October 14, 2009.
My entire body went cold.
Julian noticed.
“Mom?”
I could not speak.
October 14, 2009.
The date meant nothing to Julian.
It meant everything to me.
That was the night my husband had nearly lost the company.
The night we made one decision we had never told our son about.
Julian looked from the phone to my face.
“What happened that day?”
For the first time since Chloe entered our lives, I was the one holding a secret.
May you like
And somehow she had found it.
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