Chapter 7 - The Voice in the Dark
Sam frowned, his chest heaving as he stared between his mother and me. "What are you talking about? What did Mom tell you?"
I didn't answer immediately. I reached slowly into my designer handbag, my fingers closing around my phone. The device felt cool and heavy against my palm—a small rectangular weapon loaded with enough explosive ammunition to obliterate every single lie my husband and mother-in-law had manufactured over the past six months.
"What are you doing with that phone?" Sam demanded, taking a half-step toward me, though he didn't dare cross the distance between us.
"Something I should have done before I ever agreed to pay a single dime for this dinner," I replied calmly.
Patricia lunged forward, abandoning all pretense of aristocratic dignity. She scrambled across the frosting-slicked floor, her emerald gown stained and ruined. "Put that phone away right now, you miserable little cow! Don't you play your games with us!"
I tapped the screen, bypassed my lock code, and opened my voice memos app. I had backed up the file to three separate cloud storage locations before leaving the house. Even if Sam ripped the phone from my hand and smashed it against the floor, the truth was already safe.
I turned the volume up to maximum.
And then, with a steady finger, I pressed PLAY.
The tinny, unmistakable voice of Patricia Samford filled the dead silence of the Versailles Room, echoing off the mahogany wainscoting and crystal chandeliers:
“Vanessa will be attending tomorrow, Rachel. Frankly, I think you should stay home.”
A collective gasp rippled through the surrounding tables. Several guests leaned forward, their expressions shifting from shock to absolute disgust.
On the recording, my own recorded voice followed immediately:
“Does Sam know you're inviting his ex-voice—his ex-wife?”
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There was a brief, pregnant pause on the audio track. The ambient hum of a refrigerator could be heard in the background. Then Patricia’s cold, arrogant voice rang out clearly through the speaker:
“Of course he knows. They've been spending time together again for months. He's the one who asked me to help manage the transition.”
