Chapter 3 - The Stranger at the DoorBefore Claire could leave for the health center, a sharp knock echoed at the front door. Lorraine flung it open, expecting Andrew, but found a young man in a courier jacket holding a thick, manila envelope.
“Claire Morgan?” the courier asked, looking past Lorraine.
“She’s here, but she’s busy—” Lorraine started, attempting to block the doorway.
Claire stepped into the foyer. “I’m Claire.”
The courier handed her the envelope. “Signed delivery. You need to verify your ID.”
Claire signed the digital pad, took the heavy package, and closed the door in Lorraine’s face. She walked back to the kitchen, carefully slicing open the heavy paper seal. Inside were a dozen glossy 4x6 photographs and a printed log of text messages, hotel reservations, and credit card statements.
The photographs hit Claire like a physical blow, sharper and colder than the iron pot. They showed Andrew walking hand-in-hand along the shores of Canandaigua Lake with a sleek, elegant blonde woman half his age. In other shots, they were entering the very vacation cottage Claire had helped pay to renovate. The dates on the digital timestamps spanned the last fourteen months—covering every single weekend Andrew claimed he was attending "regional sales conventions" in Albany and Syracuse.
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The accompanying text logs revealed a chilling depth of deception. Andrew and his mistress, a woman named Chloe, had not only been sharing the lake cottage, but Lorraine had known about it all along. One text message from Lorraine to Andrew read: “Make sure Claire doesn't suspect anything this weekend. Chloe brought her famous pie for you.”
The quiet inside Claire vanished, replaced by an incandescent, razor-sharp focus.
