“Before the officers come up to this floor, Daniel,” Lena said, her voice dropping all pretense of polite bedside manner, “maybe you’d like to explain exactly why your wife had a motion-activated hidden camera recording every inch of her kitchen.”

The suffocating silence that fell behind the curtain was so absolute it felt as though the oxygen had been sucked from the room.

Would Daniel’s silver tongue save him this time, or was the trap finally springing shut?

PART 2: The Architecture of Ruin

The sudden, oppressive silence behind the hospital curtain began to change shape, morphing from arrogant confidence into palpable dread.

Daniel, ever the improviser, was the first to recover his footing. He let out a condescending, forced chuckle. “A hidden camera?

My God, Claire has become completely paranoid. I told you, Dr. Ortiz, her mental state is deteriorating. She’s totally unstable.”