CHAPTER 6 THE HOUSE OF LIES
The office door handle slowly turned.
Mara had three seconds.
She shoved the notebook beneath her maternity blouse, grabbed a random financial folder from Victor's desk, and sat in his chair.
The door opened.
Victor smiled.
"There you are."
His eyes swept across the room.
Not nervous.
Hunting.
"I've been looking for you."
"I was looking for our tax records."
He laughed.
"Since when?"
"Since I discovered my husband has secrets."
For the first time, his smile faded.
Only slightly.
He walked behind her chair.
His hand rested gently on her shoulder.
"So do you."
Mara's pulse quickened.
"What does that mean?"
Victor leaned close enough for her to smell his cologne.
"I know you visited Lila."
Silence.
"I know you met Elena."
Another pause.
"And I know you've been talking to the police."
Mara's heart hammered.
He knew everything.
Or wanted her to believe he did.
Then he smiled again.
"But none of that matters."
He placed a small velvet box on the desk.
"What is this?"
"An anniversary gift."
Inside lay a diamond necklace.
Beautiful.
Expensive.
Deadly.
Mara remembered Evelyn's warning.
Protect your food.
What if it wasn't only food?
Victor unclasped the necklace.
"Let me put it on you."
His hands trembled almost imperceptibly.
Mara caught it.
She smiled sweetly.
"I'd rather wear it tonight."
A flash of irritation crossed his face before disappearing.
"As you wish."
Just then, Claudine called from downstairs.
"The cake is ready!"
Cake?
Mara frowned.
"It's not our anniversary."
Victor smiled.
"No."
"It's a celebration."
"A celebration of what?"
His eyes lingered on her stomach.
"Our future."
Dinner was painfully quiet.
Lila's chair sat empty.
No one mentioned her.
Claudine cut three slices of cake.
One for herself.
One for Victor.
One for Mara.
Curiously...
She never served herself from Mara's slice.
Victor watched expectantly.
"Go on."
Mara lifted the fork.
Stopped.
Then deliberately dropped it onto the floor.
"Oh."
She smiled apologetically.
"My pregnancy brain."
As she bent to retrieve it, she discreetly switched her plate with Victor's.
No one noticed.
Or so she thought.
Victor took one bite.
Then another.
Within five minutes, his face lost all color.
His breathing became shallow.
Claudine shot to her feet.
"Victor!"
He stared at Mara in disbelief.
"You..."
He collapsed onto the dining room floor.
The room erupted into chaos.
Claudine screamed for an ambulance.
Mara quietly picked up Victor's untouched water glass and slipped it into her purse.
Evidence.
If poison had been meant for her...
The laboratory would find it.
As paramedics rushed Victor away, Detective Reeves walked through the front door with a search warrant.
His eyes met Mara's.
She gave the smallest nod.
The hunt was over.
Or so she believed.
Because as officers searched the house...
One detective emerged from the basement carrying a dusty metal box.
Inside was a stack of children's birth certificates.
None of the names meant anything to Mara.
Until Reeves turned over the last document.
Father:
Victor Lang.
Mother:
Mara Lang.
Issue date:
Eight years ago.
Mara stared at it in horror.
"I've... never had another child."
Reeves looked equally disturbed.
"I know."
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Someone had already created the legal identity of a child...
...that had never existed.
