Chapter 25 Leverage
Something isn't right.
I know it the moment I step into that living room and see the two of them sitting together. I knew it before I even rounded the corner.
Something is very, very off.
And the worst part is I can't identify it precisely. I can't point to a single thing and say that that's what's wrong. It's the whole picture. The way they're sitting together like old friends reunited.
I need to be careful. That much I know with certainty. I cannot afford to be reckless. I cannot afford another twenty-four minutes of careless words building up somewhere on someone's phone without my knowledge. Last time I sat across from Vanessa I gave her everything she needed without realizing I was doing it.
Not this time.
If Vanessa is going to use my own words against me, then I need something to use against hers. I need to be one step ahead for once instead of three steps behind. I need leverage because right now I have nothing except fear and a husband who isn't answering his phone.
I walk into the living room and I sit down in the chair directly across from them.
Both pairs of eyes land on me immediately.
My phone is in my hand, angled slightly away from them, screen facing my palm. I need thirty seconds. Just thirty seconds of natural conversation to give me cover while I find the recording app and start it without either of them seeing.
"So, Lia Sterling," Mrs. Michael begins, folding her hands in her lap. "I think it's time we had a proper conversation. The three of us."
"Oh, there's no need for formal introductions," Vanessa says before I can respond. "Lia and I have already met. We know each other quite well already. Don't we, Lia?"
I meet her eyes.
She holds my gaze with a small smile, and I understand exactly what she's doing. She's establishing it immediately. Planting the flag. Making sure Mrs. Michael knows that whatever ground I might claim in this room, Vanessa was here first.
"Yes," I say. "We've met."
Mrs. Michael looks between us. "When was this? Caius didn't mention—"
"Very recently," Vanessa says, turning her attention to Mrs. Michael with ease. "Right here, actually. I'm a little surprised he didn't tell you about it."
Mrs. Michael's eyes narrow slightly but she says nothing for a moment, and I use that moment. While their attention is on each other, while Vanessa is explaining something I'm not fully tracking because my focus has narrowed to the phone in my hand, I find the recording app. One tap. The small red indicator appears at the top of my screen.
Recording.
I lower my hand to my knee and breathe.
"In any case," Mrs. Michael says, turning back to me. "You came at the right time, Lia. I had planned to wait until Caius returned, but since he isn't answering his calls—"
"He isn't taking mine either," I say before I can stop myself.
She pauses.
"He isn't answering anyone," she says finally, and for just a fraction of a second she sounds less like the formidable Mrs. Michael and more like a mother who is quietly worried about her son. Then the fraction passes and she is herself again.
I think about that. Caius not answering his mother's calls. Caius going dark on everyone, not just me. Where is he? What is he doing that requires him to be completely unreachable for this many hours?
But before I can follow that thought anywhere, Mrs. Michael speaks again.
"Your days here are over, Lia."
For a moment I'm not sure I heard her correctly.
I look at her.
"What?" I ask.
"You heard me," she says. There is no apology in her tone. "Your days here are over."
"I don't understand," I say slowly, even though some cold part of me already does.
"Vanessa is pregnant," Mrs. Michael says. She glances briefly at Vanessa as she says it. "She's carrying Caius's child. Which changes things considerably." She pauses. "She is the rightful person to be in this home. In this role. Not you."
I keep my face completely neutral even though my heart is hammering hard in my chest.
Vanessa's smile widens. "If you'd like, I'm happy to help you pack," she offers in a pleasant tone. "It doesn't have to be difficult. We can keep things very simple."
The generosity in her voice makes my skin crawl.
"I—" I start, but stop.
Because I was about to say it. I was about to say Caius paid me, we have a contract, you can't just decide this without him and I can hear exactly how that sounds.
Another trap.
Different bait, same mechanism.
I close my mouth.
I think about the recording app running quietly on my phone. I think about the fact that neither of them knows it's there.
"Caius should be part of this conversation," I say finally. "Whatever needs to be decided, he should be here when it's decided."
"Caius isn't here," Mrs. Michael says pointedly.
"I know," I reply. "Which is exactly why nothing should be decided right now."
Vanessa tilts her head slightly.
"You're not in a position to make demands, Lia," she says pleasantly.
"I'm not making demands," I say. "I'm asking for my husband to be present for a conversation about our marriage. That isn't unreasonable."
My husband. The words feel strange in my mouth like they always do. But right now I need them and I say them clearly and I hold Vanessa's gaze while I do.
The pleasant expression on her face doesn't disappear exactly. But it cools down.
Mrs. Michael is watching me with those sharp eyes, and for a moment nobody speaks. The silence in the room stretches out and I sit inside it with my spine straight and my phone warm in my hand.
Then from somewhere below us comes the low rumble of a car engine pulling into the private entrance.
All three of us hear it.
Vanessa's eyes move to the window and Mrs. Michael's chin lifts slightly.
The engine cuts off.
And we hear a door opening and closing shortly.
Someone is here. And I hope, badly hope it should be Caius.