Chapter 2 - THE WOMAN IN RED
Grace stared into the untouched tea.
For several seconds, she could not make the words come out.
Lily sat across from her.
Grace’s older sister had always been the louder one.
The one who argued with landlords.
The one who returned soup because it was cold.
The one who once threatened to call a local news station because a mechanic charged Grace for work he never performed.
Tonight, Lily said nothing.
She waited.
Grace finally whispered, “There was a woman.”
Lily’s face changed.
“What woman?”
“At Daniel’s house.”
“What was she doing there?”
Grace laughed once.
It sounded terrible.
“Kissing him.”
Lily went very still.
“And?”
“He let her.”
That was enough.
Lily stood so quickly the chair scraped the floor.
“I’m going to kill him.”
“Sit down.”
“No.”
“Lily.”
“Grace, you showed up to tell that man you’re pregnant and he was making out with somebody in his study?”
Grace looked up sharply.
“How do you know I went there to tell him?”
Lily stared.
“You came from the doctor with your hand over your stomach and then showed up here looking like someone died.”
Grace closed her eyes.
Of course.
Lily knew her too well.
“How far?”
“Seven weeks.”
Lily’s anger vanished.
Not entirely.
But enough for something softer to enter.
“Oh.”
Grace started crying again.
Lily sat beside her immediately.
“Hey.”
“I was happy.”
“I know.”
“I was scared, but I was happy.”
“I know.”
“I kept imagining his face.”
Lily put an arm around her.
“And now?”
Grace wiped her eyes.
“Now I don’t know if I ever want him to know.”
Lily looked at her carefully.
“You’re angry.”
“Yes.”
“You’re hurt.”
“Yes.”
“Those are not the same thing as deciding what happens with the baby.”
“I know.”
“Good.”
Grace leaned against her.
“I feel stupid.”
“Don’t.”
“I thought I knew him.”
“You knew part of him.”
Grace looked away.
“That’s not enough.”
“No.”
Lily agreed too easily.
Grace laughed through tears.
“You’re supposed to argue.”
“I don’t lie recreationally.”
The phone vibrated again.
Daniel.
Grace flipped it over.
Lily looked.
“How many times?”
“Four.”
“Answer.”
“No.”
“You should hear what he says.”
“I saw what he did.”
“That’s true.”
Grace stared at her.
“Whose side are you on?”
“Yours.”
“Then why—”
“Because if he cheated, I want you to know it completely. If there is some horrible explanation, I want you to know that too.”
Grace almost smiled bitterly.
“A horrible explanation for kissing someone?”
“I’m not saying a good explanation.”
“Exactly.”
“I’m saying information before permanent decisions.”
That was reasonable.
Grace hated it.
Her phone stopped ringing.
Then a message arrived.
DANIEL: Are you home?
Another.
DANIEL: I know you came by.
Grace stopped breathing.
Lily noticed.
“What?”
“He knows.”
“That you saw?”
Grace read the next message.
DANIEL: Grace, please answer me. The woman you saw is not what you think.
Lily sighed.
“Of course he said that.”
Grace’s fingers went cold.
Another message.
DANIEL: Her name is Sofia Bellini. She was not there because I wanted her there.
Grace stared.
Then—
DANIEL: I should have stopped her before she touched me. I didn’t. That is on me. But you need to hear the rest before you disappear.
Grace’s jaw tightened.
“He admits it.”
Lily read over her shoulder.
“At least he isn’t saying you imagined it.”
“That’s a very low standard.”
“Yes.”
The next message was different.
DANIEL: She came to warn me that someone inside my family has been trying to identify you.
Grace frowned.
Lily stopped.
“That is not the normal cheating-defense sentence.”
Grace’s stomach tightened.
Daniel sent another.
DANIEL: Do not go home tonight.
Grace’s face changed.
Lily stood.
“Okay.”
“What?”
“That one I dislike.”
Grace’s phone rang.
This time from an unknown number.
She stared.
Lily said, “Don’t answer.”
Grace almost agreed.
Then a voicemail notification appeared.
No ringing.
Just a recorded message.
Lily played it on speaker.
A woman’s voice.
Smooth.
Calm.
The same voice Grace had heard through Daniel’s study door.
“Grace Holloway.”
Grace went cold.
Sofia Bellini continued.
“If you are listening, Daniel probably told you my name.”
Lily’s expression hardened.
“I need you to understand something before you decide I’m your enemy.”
Grace whispered, “Too late.”
The recording continued.
“I kissed him because I needed whoever was watching that room to believe I still had influence over him.”
Grace’s face twisted.
Lily looked skeptical.
Sofia went on.
“I was not supposed to know you were there.”
Grace stopped.
What?
“I saw your car leaving through the east gate.”
Sofia’s voice changed.
Less polished now.
More urgent.
“That means someone inside the Mercer estate saw it too.”
A pause.
“Do not go back to your apartment.”
The message ended.
Silence filled Lily’s kitchen.
Grace stared at the phone.
“This is insane.”
Lily nodded.
“Yes.”
“I don’t believe her.”
“Also reasonable.”
“She kissed him.”
“Yes.”
“He didn’t stop her.”
“Yes.”
“And now I’m supposed to believe it was performance art for criminals?”
Lily almost smiled.
“When you say it that way, it does sound bad.”
Grace stood.
“I’m leaving.”
“To where?”
“My apartment.”
“No.”
“Lily.”
“You received two separate warnings not to.”
“From Daniel and the woman kissing him.”
“Correct.”
“That does not make them more credible.”
“It makes them independently annoying.”
Grace looked toward the window.
Queens traffic moved below.
Normal.
Taxis.
Buses.
People carrying groceries.
Her life should have been normal tonight.
Instead she was seven weeks pregnant with a man she no longer trusted, while a stranger apparently knew her name and movements.
Lily stood.
“You stay here.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Someone might know this address too.”
Lily stopped.
Grace immediately regretted saying it.
Then both sisters looked toward the door.
Three locks.
Thin apartment walls.
No security.
Lily whispered, “Call him.”
Grace stared.
“Daniel.”
“No.”
“Call him and ask one question.”
“What?”
“How the hell somebody inside his family knows who you are.”
Grace did not want to.
Which was exactly why she probably should.
She called.
Daniel answered before the first full ring.
“Grace.”
His voice sounded wrong.
Not guilty.
Not angry.
Afraid.
“Where are you?”
“I’m safe.”
“That isn’t a location.”
“You don’t get a location.”
Silence.
He accepted it.
“Okay.”
That surprised her.
Grace continued.
“Who is Sofia?”
Daniel exhaled.
“My former fiancée.”
Grace stopped.
Lily mouthed, Oh, great.
Grace felt another crack inside her.
“Former fiancée.”
“Yes.”
“You never mentioned a former fiancée.”
“I should have.”
“When?”
“Years ago.”
“How many?”
“Eleven.”
“Why was she in your study?”
“She asked for a meeting.”
“And you agreed.”
“Yes.”
“She put her hand on your chest.”
“Yes.”
“She kissed you.”
“Yes.”
“You let her.”
Silence.
Daniel answered carefully.
“For approximately three seconds.”
Grace laughed bitterly.
“Thank you for the forensic precision.”
“I am not defending it.”
“Good.”
“I froze.”
“You?”
“Yes.”
“The man who has an answer for everything froze?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Another pause.
“Because she whispered something before she kissed me.”
Grace’s stomach tightened.
“What?”
Daniel’s voice lowered.
“She said, ‘Smile if you want Grace to live.’”
Grace stopped breathing.
Lily heard.
Her face changed completely.
Daniel continued.
“There was a camera in my study.”
“What camera?”
“Not mine.”
Grace sat.
“Where?”
“Inside a smoke detector.”
Lily whispered, “Jesus.”
Daniel went on.
“Sofia found it before I did.”
“So the kiss—”
“She believed whoever was monitoring the room needed to think we were aligned.”
Grace closed her eyes.
“That still doesn’t explain why somebody cares about me.”
“I know.”
“Then explain.”
Daniel’s voice changed.
“I think someone knows about the child.”
Grace froze.
Not emotionally.
Physically.
Her hand moved to her stomach.
Lily stared.
Grace’s voice became nearly inaudible.
“What child?”
Daniel said nothing for half a second too long.
Grace stood.
“How do you know?”
“I didn’t until now.”
“That makes no sense.”
“Grace.”
“How do you know I’m pregnant?”
“I didn’t.”
Silence.
The horror arrived slowly.
Daniel continued.
“I meant a different child.”
Grace stared into nothing.
Lily frowned.
“What?”
Daniel said, “Sofia has a ten-year-old son.”
Grace closed her eyes.
Everything in her body went cold.
“And?”
Daniel’s voice broke by the smallest amount.
“She told me tonight he might be mine.”
Grace could not breathe.
Lily reached for her.
Daniel continued quickly.
“I did not know he existed.”
Grace ended the call.
Not because she had nothing to say.
Because there were now too many things to say and none of them could coexist inside one conversation.
She placed the phone on the table.
Lily stared.
“Did he just say—”
“Yes.”
“An ex-fiancée has a ten-year-old possibly-his-child.”
“Yes.”
“And she kissed him while warning him someone is trying to identify you.”
“Yes.”
Lily sat.
“Your life has become exhausting.”
Grace started laughing.
Then crying.
Then somehow both.
Her own baby suddenly felt smaller.
More fragile.
Less like joy and more like another unknown inside Daniel Mercer’s dangerous family.
Twenty minutes passed.
Then someone knocked.
Three soft taps.
Grace and Lily froze.
No one was expected.
The knock came again.
Lily reached for a kitchen knife.
Grace whispered, “That is ridiculous.”
“It’s what we have.”
A woman’s voice came through the door.
“Grace?”
Grace went cold.
Sofia.
Lily looked toward her.
Sofia continued.
“Daniel doesn’t know I’m here.”
Grace did not answer.
“I need five minutes.”
Lily whispered, “Absolutely not.”
Then Sofia said something that changed everything.
“The person who planted the camera in Daniel’s study also has your medical records.”
Grace stopped.
May you like
Sofia continued from the hall.
“And if I’m right, they already know you’re pregnant.”
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