Chapter 2 - I did not lock Seraphina inside
I threw Seraphina’s suitcase into the compartment.
That part was anger.
Then I shut the little storage door in front of her.
I did not put her inside.
I did not lock anything.
I told security:
“Escort Seraphina from the property.”
She stared at me.
“You are throwing me out over one spoiled child?”
I looked down at Anouk.
Her face was wet.
Her cardigan sleeve smelled faintly of detergent and dust.
“One child?”
Seraphina’s expression shifted.
Then she tried the threat.
“Choose that girl, and I’ll expose your family’s secrets.”
That was when I retrieved the teddy bear.
Anouk had a tiny digital recorder inside it.
Not a secret surveillance system I planted without her knowledge.
I had given it to her six months earlier because she hated video calls when I traveled.
She could press one button and leave:
Stories.
Questions.
Goodnight messages.
I would listen when meetings ended.
Sometimes the recordings were thirty seconds.
Sometimes seventeen minutes of a six-year-old explaining why sharks were misunderstood.
Before my trip, she had told me:
“I’m gonna record everything.”
I thought she meant her week.
Apparently she nearly had.
I removed the recorder.
Seraphina saw it.
Her face changed.
May you like
I said:
“You’re the one who gave yourself away.”
