Chapter 14 - The Echo of Cruelty
The high-fidelity speaker crackled slightly before my foyer was filled with Vanessa's own voice, loud and undeniable.
“People like you should be grateful people like me let you indoors.”
Daniel flinched as if someone had physically struck him across the face.
The recording continued. It played the sound of her heavy footsteps. It played her cruel accusation about the missing diamond bracelet, calling me a thief. It captured her mocking the fake accent, demanding that I scrub the floor on my hands and knees. And finally, it played the heavy splash of the bucket, followed by her cold, triumphant laughter.
“You look disgusting. Someone needs to wash the filth off you.”
I reached out and pressed stop.
Daniel looked at Vanessa. His face was a mask of pure devastation. The woman he loved, the woman he thought was an angel of charity, had just been exposed as a monster.
Vanessa, fueled by pure panic, lunged forward toward the marble table, her manicured hands grasping for the small device. But I was faster. I closed my hand firmly over the recorder, pulling it away.
“That recording is backed up to three secure cloud servers,” I stated calmly, staring her down. “You cannot destroy it.”
She spun around like a cornered animal.
“So what?” she snapped, her chest heaving, abandoning all pretense of innocence. “You think one bad afternoon cancels everything? Daniel loves me. He knows my heart. The wedding is in six days. Half the state's politicians are attending. Everyone is attending.”
Daniel finally spoke. His voice was hollow, stripped of all its usual warmth.
“Not anymore,” he said.
May you like
She whipped her head toward him, her eyes wide with desperation. “Daniel, you don’t mean that. You're just upset.”
“I do mean it. It's over.”
