Chapter 2: The Name Nobody Was Supposed to See
Richard's hand slammed down on the table so hard the crystal glasses jumped.
"Answer me, Diane.
Right now.
In front of everyone."
Diane's mouth opened and closed.
For the first time in her life, the woman who controlled every room she walked into had nothing to say.
Then she found her voice — and it was vicious.
"You want to talk about betrayal, Richard?" she hissed, her eyes cutting sideways.
"Then maybe you should ask your precious Claire what she was doing the night she came to this house three years ago.
Alone.
Without you knowing."
The room went absolutely still.
Claire's smirk didn't waver.
But her hand, still holding the cream-stained napkin, tightened almost imperceptibly.
Richard turned slowly toward Claire.
"What is she talking about?"
Before Claire could answer, a phone buzzed loudly on the table.
Everyone looked down.
It was Diane's phone.
And the name lighting up the screen — visible to everyone seated nearby — was not the man in the photographs.
It was a name that made Richard go white.
It was his brother's name.
😨
Diane lunged for the phone, but Richard got there first.
He stared at the screen for a long, terrible moment.
May you like
When he looked back up, his voice had dropped to something far more dangerous than a roar.
"How long," he said quietly, "has this been going on?"
