Chapter 2 - the missing telephone
Evelyn remained awake until Trevor returned to bed.
He lay down beside her without realizing she had heard him.
For nearly an hour, she stared at the ceiling.
At sunrise, Trevor behaved normally.
He made coffee, kissed Mia goodbye, and reminded Evelyn about a prenatal appointment.
Nothing in his voice suggested that he had spent the night discussing how to handle his own father.
After he left, Evelyn called Walter.
She almost told him everything.
Instead, she asked whether Trevor had ever been involved with someone named Adrian.
The silence on the line lasted several seconds.
“Adrian Cole?” Walter asked.
“I don’t know the last name.”
“What did Trevor say?”
“Nothing. I saw the name on one of the documents.”
That was a lie, but Evelyn was not ready to reveal that she had overheard the call.
Walter sounded troubled.
“Adrian was the company’s legal adviser.”
“Was?”
“He was dismissed after the financial investigation.”
“Did Trevor hire him?”
“Trevor recommended him.”
Evelyn sat at the kitchen table.
“What happened to the missing money?”
“Some of it passed through consulting companies. We never found where it ended.”
“Did you report it?”
“The board wanted to. Trevor returned part of the money and threatened to expose private family matters.”
“What private matters?”
Walter did not answer.
“Evelyn, do not sign anything. I’m coming over.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Trevor watches the security cameras.”
Another silence.
When Walter spoke again, his voice was quieter.
“Has he threatened you?”
“Not directly.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Evelyn looked toward the camera mounted above the back door.
“I need time.”
“You may not have as much as you think.”
Before she could respond, the connection ended.
Someone had disconnected the call from another device.
Evelyn stared at the phone.
A notification appeared.
Your account has been signed out.
She tried to log in again, but her password no longer worked.
Mia wandered into the kitchen holding a stuffed rabbit.
“Mommy, why are you sad?”
Evelyn forced a smile.
“I’m not sad.”
Mia climbed into her lap.
“Daddy says you cry because the baby makes you confused.”
Evelyn’s body went still.
“When did he say that?”
“Yesterday.”
“What else did he say?”
Mia played with the rabbit’s ear.
“He said Grandpa makes you worried.”
Evelyn hugged her daughter.
Trevor was not merely hiding information.
He was preparing a story.
A pregnant wife under pressure.
A confused mother.
An unstable woman influenced by her father-in-law.
By noon, Evelyn had recovered access to her email through an old tablet Trevor had forgotten about.
Several messages were missing.
One concerned her grandmother’s trust.
Another concerned an appointment with a financial adviser she did not remember scheduling.
A third contained a confirmation that she had authorized Trevor to discuss her medical records.
Evelyn called the clinic.
The receptionist confirmed that Trevor had submitted a signed consent form two weeks earlier.
“I never signed that.”
The receptionist hesitated.
“It has your signature.”
“Send me a copy.”
When the document arrived, Evelyn felt sick.
The signature resembled hers closely.
But the final letter in her surname curved in the wrong direction.
Someone had practiced.
She printed the document and hid it beneath Mia’s art supplies.
Then she began searching the house.
Trevor kept the study locked, but Evelyn knew where he hid the spare key.
Inside his desk, she found receipts from hotels, burner phone cards, and a storage-unit contract under Adrian Cole’s name.
She also found an old phone wrapped in a handkerchief.
At first, she believed it belonged to Trevor.
Then she turned it over.
A small scratch shaped like a crescent marked the silver case.
Evelyn recognized it.
The phone was hers.
She had lost it six months earlier during a weekend trip to Walter’s country property.
Trevor had helped her search for it.
He had even driven her to a store to buy a replacement.
The battery was dead.
Evelyn connected it to a charger.
The screen flickered.
A password request appeared.
Before she could enter anything, she heard the front door unlock.
Trevor was home three hours early.
Evelyn shoved the phone into her pocket and closed the desk.
His footsteps approached.
“Evelyn?”
She slipped out of the study and locked the door behind her.
Trevor appeared at the end of the hallway.
“Why are you upstairs?”
“I was looking for Mia’s blue blanket.”
“In my study?”
“The linen cupboard is beside it.”
Trevor watched her.
Then his eyes moved toward her pocket.
The outline of the phone was visible through the fabric.
Evelyn placed one hand over it.
Trevor started toward her.
At that moment, Mia screamed from downstairs.
Both parents turned.
Evelyn hurried past him.
Mia stood in the kitchen beside a shattered glass. She was frightened but unharmed.
Trevor followed more slowly.
“What happened?”
“I dropped it,” Mia whispered.
Trevor stared at the broken pieces.
Then he looked at Evelyn.
“Clean it up.”
Evelyn took Mia into the hallway first.
When she returned, Trevor was holding the hidden phone.
Her pocket was empty.
“You’ve been searching my office,” he said.
“It’s my phone.”
“You lost it.”
“You found it and kept it.”
“I was planning to return it.”
“Six months later?”
Trevor pressed the power button.
“Do you remember the password?”
Evelyn did not answer.
He smiled.
“I do.”
He entered six digits.
The screen unlocked.
Evelyn felt a wave of confusion.
She had never shared that password with him.
Trevor opened the messages and scrolled.
His expression changed.
“What is it?” she asked.
He turned the screen away.
“Nothing.”
A new message appeared before he could hide it.
The sender had no name.
The message contained only one sentence.
She remembers more than you said she would.
Trevor deleted it immediately.
But Evelyn had already seen it.
May you like
That evening, he left the house again.
Evelyn waited ten minutes before following him.
