Valerie's heart pounded as she stared at the message on her screen.
"You should leave before it's too late."
Her first instinct was to block the number. To pretend she hadn't seen it. But pretending hadn't protected her so far.
She gripped the phone tightly, her fingers slick with sweat.
Was it Adrian?
No. He wouldn't send a message like that. He didn't know… unless someone told him.
She rushed back upstairs, double-checked every camera Daniel had installed in the house. Nothing had been tampered with. But she still felt exposed as if someone was inside her home, hiding behind the walls, watching her.
She was being paranoid.
Or was she?
When Daniel returned home that evening, she tried to act normal. She smiled. She kissed his cheek. She pretended.
But her body was tense, her every word calculated.
"I was thinking of redecorating the guest room," she said lightly over dinner.
He raised a brow. "Why?"
She shrugged. "It's empty. Feels… useless."
Daniel leaned forward, cutting his steak slowly. "You never cared about that room before."
Valerie swallowed. "I just… thought a change might be good."
He stared at her for a long moment. "Change isn't always good, Valerie. Sometimes it leads to… mistakes."
Her fingers froze around her fork.
Was that a warning?
Was he already suspicious?
Later that night, Valerie curled up in bed with her second phone the one Daniel didn't know about.
She stared at Adrian's number again.
Just one message. One call. One moment of weakness.
But she couldn't afford another mistake.
She turned off the phone and that's when it happened.
A voice.
From the hallway.
Faint. Close. Familiar.
"Valerie…"
She jumped, heart in her throat. She rushed to the door and pressed her ear against it.
Nothing.
She opened it slowly silence.
The hallway was empty.
She moved cautiously toward the staircase, every step creaking beneath her. Then she saw it.
A note.
Folded neatly and placed on the stairs.
With trembling fingers, she picked it up.
"You're not safe. And neither is the baby."