Chapter 6: The Recording He Never Knew Existed
The room changed the moment Andre heard his own voice.
Simone had seen him angry.
She had seen him frustrated.
She had seen him cold.
But she had never seen him afraid.
Not like this.
His eyes were fixed on Karen’s phone.
Not on Simone.
Not on Elaine.
Not on the woman whose face he had bruised.
The phone.
That was what mattered.
And Simone noticed.
“You’re not even denying it.””
Andre looked at her.
“What?””
“The recording.””
His jaw tightened.
“That recording doesn’t prove anything.””
Karen stared at him.
“It proves exactly what happened.””
“No.””
His voice sharpened.
“It proves you recorded a private conversation.””
Karen flinched.
Only slightly.
But Simone noticed.
Because she knew that tactic.
Change the subject.
Attack the person holding the evidence.
Make everyone forget the original question.
Elaine stepped forward.
“Do not do that.””
Andre looked at her.
“Do what?””
“Turn this around.””
“I’m not.””
“You are.””
Elaine pointed at the phone.
“We heard your voice.””
Andre laughed quietly.
“You heard a sentence.””
“A sentence where you admitted making someone afraid.””
“That’s not what I meant.””
Simone looked at him.
“Then what did you mean?””
He turned toward her.
“Simone.””
“No.””
Her voice was steady.
“Answer.””
Andre stared.
For a second, she thought he might.
She thought maybe, finally, he would stop.
But he didn’t.
Instead, he said:
“You’re letting other people manipulate you.””
The words hit her harder than she expected.
Because even now.
Even with the truth standing in the room.
He still couldn't simply answer.
Simone shook her head.
“Unbelievable.””
“Think about this.””
“I have.””
“No, you haven’t.””
“I have spent years thinking about nothing except you.””
Andre went quiet.
Simone felt tears burning.
“I thought about your moods.””
She counted on her fingers.
“Your stress. Your anger. Your feelings. Your excuses.””
Her voice cracked.
“I spent so much time trying to understand you that I stopped understanding myself.””
Elaine looked at her daughter.
Pain crossed her face.
Not because she was disappointed.
Because she finally understood how much Simone had carried alone.
Andre looked away.
“You’re being dramatic.””
The words were almost automatic.
Simone closed her eyes.
There it was.
The same sentence.
The same weapon.
“You always say that.””
“Because it’s true.””
“No.””
She opened her eyes.
“It’s because if you convince me I’m dramatic, you never have to admit you hurt me.””
Nobody spoke.
Andre’s expression hardened.
“You really believe that?””
Simone looked at him.
“I do.””
A long silence followed.
Then Andre walked toward the living room.
“I’m leaving.””
Karen immediately looked relieved.
But Simone felt something else.
Fear.
Not for herself.
For what he would do next.
“You’re leaving?””
“Yes.””
“You’re just walking away?””
He stopped.
“What do you want me to do?””
She stared.
“I don’t know.””
And that was the truth.
She didn't know what she wanted.
A part of her wanted him to apologize.
Another part wanted him gone.
Another part wanted to wake up and discover none of this happened.
Andre grabbed his coat.
“You need time to calm down.””
Simone almost laughed.
“Calm down?””
“Yes.””
“You hurt me.””
“I said I’m sorry.””
“When?””
He looked at her.
“I’m saying it now.””
“No.””
Her voice shook.
“You’re sorry you got caught.””
Andre’s face changed.
That landed.
Because it was true.
“I never wanted this to happen.””
Simone stared.
“You mean you never wanted me to find out.””
He didn’t answer.
Elaine walked toward the door.
“Get out.””
Andre looked at her.
“This is my house.””
Simone froze.
The sentence.
The ownership in it.
Elaine didn’t.
“No.””
She pointed toward the door.
“This is my daughter’s home too.””
Andre laughed.
“Your daughter?””
“Yes.””
“She lives here because of me.””
Simone looked at him.
And something inside her finally snapped.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
Just a quiet breaking.
“Because of you?””
Andre looked at her.
“Yes.””
She nodded slowly.
“Okay.””
He frowned.
“What?””
“Say it again.””
“What?””
“Say that I only have this life because of you.””
Andre stared.
Simone took a step forward.
“Go ahead.””
“I’m not doing this.””
“No.””
She shook her head.
“You’re not.””
Her eyes filled.
“Because you know if you say it out loud, you’ll hear how it sounds.””
The room was silent.
“You didn’t give me this life.””
Simone looked around the house.
The expensive furniture.
The photographs.
The walls she had decorated.
“You were just standing beside me while I built mine.””
For the first time, Andre had no immediate response.
Karen watched quietly.
Elaine reached for Simone’s hand.
Andre looked at Karen.
“This is what you wanted?””
Karen looked down.
“No.””
Her answer surprised him.
“I wanted you to tell the truth.””
Andre laughed bitterly.
“You ruined everything.””
Karen’s face changed.
“No.””
She shook her head.
“You did.””
The front door opened.
Nobody moved.
Then Andre stepped outside.
But before he left, he looked at Simone.
And his expression scared her more than his anger.
Because it was calm.
Too calm.
“This isn’t over.””
Elaine immediately stepped forward.
“That sounded like a threat.””
Andre looked at her.
“No.””
Then he looked at Simone.
“It’s a fact.””
The door closed.
The house became silent.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then Simone sat down.
Her legs couldn't hold her anymore.
Elaine knelt in front of her.
“Oh, sweetheart.””
Simone covered her face.
“I’m sorry.””
“Stop saying that.””
“I should have told you.””
“Yes.””
Her mother held her hands.
“But not because I’m angry.””
“Then why?””
“Because you shouldn’t have had to carry this alone.””
Simone cried quietly.
Karen stood near the doorway.
She looked like she wanted to leave.
“Simone.””
Simone looked up.
Karen swallowed.
“I know you probably hate me.””
Simone stared.
“I don’t know what I feel.””
Karen nodded.
“That’s fair.””
She looked down.
“I’m sorry.””
Simone wiped her face.
“Why did you record him?””
Karen hesitated.
“Because I realized I was becoming someone I didn’t recognize.””
She sat down across from them.
“I thought he loved me.””
Simone looked away.
“He told me things about you.””
“What things?””
“That you were unstable.””
Simone went still.
“That you were jealous.””
Karen’s voice became quieter.
“That you had problems.””
Elaine’s expression hardened.
“He was preparing you to believe anything.””
Karen nodded.
“Yes.””
Simone looked at the phone.
“The recording…”
“I made it because I started questioning him.””
“Why?””
Karen looked embarrassed.
“Because he started doing the same things to me.””
Simone felt a chill.
“What things?””
Karen looked at her.
“The anger.””
A pause.
“The blame.””
Another pause.
“The fear.””
Simone understood.
She had not been special.
Not in the way she thought.
Andre didn’t hurt her because of something she did.
He hurt because hurting someone was part of who he was.
Karen reached for her phone.
“There’s more.””
Simone looked up.
“What?””
“I didn’t just save that one recording.””
Her heart sank.
“How many?””
Karen looked at the screen.
“Four.””
Elaine frowned.
“Why?””
“Because I was scared.””
She looked at Simone.
“I thought if I confronted him, he would destroy me.””
Simone stared.
The irony was almost unbearable.
Two women.
Same man.
Different stories.
Same fear.
Karen opened another file.
“This one is from the night before last weekend.””
Simone looked at the phone.
“Why is it important?””
Karen pressed play.
At first, there was only background noise.
Then Andre’s voice.
But this time, Simone heard something different.
A sentence.
A plan.
A sentence that made her blood turn cold.
Andre’s voice said:
“She’ll never leave me.””
A pause.
Then another voice.
Karen’s.
“Why?””
And Andre answered:
“Because she has nowhere to go.””
Simone stopped breathing.
Elaine looked at her.
And Simone felt something she hadn’t felt in years.
Not fear.
Not sadness.
Something stronger.
Clarity.
Because Andre had finally revealed the truth.
He hadn’t stayed because he loved her.
He stayed because he believed she couldn’t leave.
Then Karen’s phone buzzed.
Everyone looked down.
A new message appeared.
Unknown number.
May you like
Only five words.
*He knows about the recordings. Run.*
