Chapter 11 - The Hidden Phone
Thomas moved toward the bedroom.
I blocked the hallway.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting my things.”
“Not until you tell us where the money went.”
“You cannot keep me here.”
“No. But I can call the police about the forged loan application.”
He froze.
Marta stood.
“Police?”
Thomas glared at me.
“You would destroy my life over paperwork?”
“You attempted to steal my home.”
“I was protecting our future.”
“Which future? Mine, yours, or the one you sold your mother?”
His face twisted.
Marta reached into her handbag and pulled out a second phone.
“I found this in your car last week.”
Thomas’s expression collapsed.
The phone was older.
No passcode.
Marta had already opened it.
She believed it belonged to a business partner.
Now she placed it on the counter.
Messages filled the screen.
Most were between Thomas and a woman named Elise.
Not the boutique manager from any other story—this Elise was a real-estate broker.
They discussed selling the apartment after “removing Sophie.”
They discussed transferring Marta’s investment through cryptocurrency.
They discussed leaving Colorado.
One message from Thomas said:
Once Mom gets her out, I’ll change the locks.
Marta stared at the words.
“You sent me here to throw her out.”
Thomas did not deny it.
“You said she had agreed to separate.”
“I needed time.”
“You used me.”
He answered coldly.
May you like
“You were willing.”
That sentence broke whatever loyalty remained between them.
