It was a brilliant lie. Completely plausible, delivered with zero hesitation. If I hadn’t seen my custom anniversary sapphire hanging around that girl’s neck just hours earlier, I might have actually believed him.
“Right,” I said softly, forcing a matching smile. “A cleaning service worker.”
“I’ll make sure to tell her to stay out of our master suite during the day,” Gregory added smoothly, kissing my cheek before turning his attention to his laptop.
That night, as Gregory slept beside me, breathing evenly in the dark, I lay awake with my eyes wide open. The man sleeping next to me wasn’t a partner; he was a stranger wearing a mask.
The next day, during my lunch break, I ordered four discreet, motion-activated security cameras online. I had them shipped to a locker box down the street. Over the weekend, while Gregory took Toby to a birthday party, I installed them: one angled toward the master bedroom entrance, one inside the bedroom itself, one in the hallway, and one cleverly disguised in the home office.
