Chapter 4
The Cloudy Water Before dawn, I woke with my heart already racing.
Mark was asleep on his back.
One arm over his face. Breathing deep and steady.
I slipped from bed.
The apartment was gray and silent.
In the kitchen, the drawer seemed louder than thunder when I pulled it open. The glass was still there.
The necklace sat at the bottom.
But the water was no longer clear.
It was cloudy. Milky.
Strange threads floated through it like smoke trapped underwater.
My hands shook as I lifted it into the pale morning light.
Then I saw something beside the clasp. A tiny metallic capsule.
No bigger than a grain of rice. It had loosened from the thick part of the clasp.
A small black dot stared from its center. A lens. My throat closed.
It was not jewelry. It was a camera.
Or something worse. I set the glass down so hard water sloshed onto the counter. Behind me, a voice said, “You weren’t supposed to find that.”
I turned. Mark stood in the kitchen doorway.
Barefoot.
Expression empty
. No shock. No shame. Just irritation. Like I had ruined his morning.
“What is this?” I whispered. He stepped closer.
“It’s not what you think.” That was almost funny.
Because for the first time in years, I knew exactly what I thought.
“You put a camera in a necklace?”
“I needed to know who you were talking to.”
“Who I was talking to?” His jaw tightened.
“You’ve been weird about the cabin. Secretive.”
“You mean I said no.” He slammed his hand on the counter.
“You’re my wife.”
The glass trembled. The necklace shifted.
“I had a right to know what you were planning.” My fear sharpened into something colder.
“You wanted to spy on me.”
He looked at the glass.
May you like
Then at me.
“You always make everything sound ugly.”
