Chapter 1 - The Glare of the Screen
The hum of the refrigerator was the only sound left in the kitchen after the slap echoed away. Cole’s palm still hovered against his burning cheek, his fingers twitching with a raw, electric numbness. Under the harsh ceiling light, Elena looked like a stranger—eyes wide, dark, and devoid of the warmth that had filled this apartment just ten minutes earlier. She held her black phone extended like a weapon, its screen glowing against the dim room.
""Look at it, Cole,"" Elena said, her voice dropping into an icy register that terrified him far more than any shout could. ""Don't blink. Don't look away.""
Cole forced his eyes toward the glass. The thumbnail paused on a dark hotel corridor, but as Elena tapped play, the motion smoothed out. A time stamp in the corner read November fourteenth—the weekend Cole swore he had been attending his father’s memorial service three states away. On screen, a door opened. Cole himself stepped into frame, pulling Vanessa close by the waist, whispering into her ear before shutting the door behind them. But it wasn’t just intimacy; the audio picked up Cole's unmistakable voice saying, “She doesn't suspect a thing. Once the trust clears, I'm out.”
The room tilted. Cole felt his breath hitch in his throat, his chest seizing as the oxygen turned to ash. ""Elena, wait... that's—that isn't what it looks like. You don't know the full context—""
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""Context?"" Elena let out a dry, jagged laugh that died instantly in her throat. She lowered the phone, her knuckles turning bone white around the casing. ""You sold me out before we even signed this lease. How long did you think you could keep this buried?""
Before Cole could step forward, Elena’s phone chimed in her palm. A new notification flashed across the locked screen from an unknown number: He isn’t the only one watching you tonight. Look out the kitchen window.
