Chapter 2: The Smile She Should Not Have Had
Victoria didn't cry.
That was the first thing I noticed.
No tears.
No trembling lip.
Just a long, slow breath — and then a smile.
Not a sad smile.
Not a guilty one.
A smile like she had been waiting for this moment.
"Fine," she said.
"You want the truth, Mark?
Let's talk about the truth."
She reached into the pocket of her dress and pulled out her phone.
Tapped the screen twice.
Then held it out toward him.
Mark didn't move.
"What is that?" he said.
"Read it."
He shifted Thomas to one arm and took the phone.
I watched his face as his eyes moved across the screen.
I watched the color leave it.
"That's not possible," he said quietly.
"It's very possible," Victoria said.
"And your lawyer already has a copy."
I didn't know what was on that screen.
But Thomas had gone completely still in his father's arms — the way a child goes still when the air in a room changes and they don't understand why but they feel it.
Mark looked up from the phone.
He looked at Victoria.
Then he looked at me.
And for the first time since he had walked through that door, I saw something in his eyes that frightened me more than anything Victoria had done.
He looked lost.
"Elena," he said.
"How long have you worked in this house?"
I didn't understand the question.
"Three years," I said.
"You know that."
He nodded slowly.
"And in those three years," he said, "did my wife ever speak to you about Thomas's mother?"
The hallway went cold.
I had never heard Mark mention Thomas's mother.
Not once.
Not in three years.
Victoria's smile widened.
May you like
"Go ahead, Mark," she said softly.
"Tell her who Thomas really is."
