Chapter 2

After my flight landed, I didn’t go home.

I took an Uber straight to my office and pulled up the security footage of my cubicle from the past two weeks.

On the screen, every night around 9:00 PM, my roommate, Ashley Thorne, would appear at my desk like clockwork.

She would casually open my drawer and pull out the backup phone I kept there.

It was my work phone, which I only used for verification codes and company notifications.

I had always assumed the battery had just died.

The footage showed Ashley operating the phone for about fifteen minutes each time before putting it back and shutting the drawer.

I logged into my Snapchat and Tinder accounts on my work computer.

My inbox was flooded with over a hundred unread messages.

The most recent one was from 11:00 PM last night.

A contact saved as "Marcus - Sent $5,000" had texted: "Hey babe, I bought that designer bag you wanted. When can I see you again?"

I clicked on the chat history and scrolled up.

Ashley had been chatting with this Marcus guy for an entire week, completely mimicking my tone.

It started with flirty banter, then quickly turned into a flat-out transaction.

"I’m a little tight on cash this week. Can you help me out? If we're meeting up, I expect a little gesture, you know?"

"I spent that two grand you sent me last time on skincare. You’re so good to me."

"Why don't you come over to my place this weekend? My roommate is out of town. It’ll be just us."

Every single invite was followed by a pinned location—my apartment address.

There were also dozens of voice notes.

I put on my headphones and clicked play.

Ashley’s voice came through, pitched higher, imitating my soft tone:

"Marcus, are you here yet? The door is unlocked. Just come straight in."

In the background of the audio, I could hear the TV in my living room playing.

I shut down my computer, walked out, and hailed a cab home.

When I pushed the front door open, the apartment was quiet.

Ashley’s bedroom door was closed, and I could hear the shower running.

I walked into my own bedroom.

The sheets had been freshly changed, but there was a long, dark brown strand of hair on my pillow. It wasn't mine.

On my nightstand lay an opened condom wrapper.

In the trash can, there were used tissues and a food delivery receipt.

The timestamp was 10:47 PM last night.

The delivery note read: "Please ring the bell. The front door is unlocked, just push it open and leave it inside."

My fingers turned white as I clutched the receipt.

I walked into my bathroom and opened my vanity cabinet.

My brand-new La Mer cream, which I’d only used for a week, was completely scraped empty.

Next to it, one of my favorite Chanel lipsticks was snapped in half, the broken tip smeared with some sticky, unrecognizable liquid.

I pulled out my phone and checked a photo of my vanity that I had taken before my trip.

Compared to now, at least a dozen high-end products were missing.

All the expensive ones.

The sound of keys jiggling came from the front door.

Ashley walked in, wearing a matching Alo Yoga set, carrying a grocery bag.

Seeing me standing by the bathroom door, she froze for a fraction of a second before flashing a bright, surprised smile.

"Oh my god, you're back! How was the training?"

Her eyes flicked to the delivery receipt in my hand, but her face didn't show a hint of panic.

"Oh, that? A couple of my friends came over for dinner a few nights ago. Someone must have used your bathroom."

"I meant to clean it up, but it totally slipped my mind."

She set the grocery bag on the kitchen counter and continued casually, "By the way, I used a little bit of that face cream on your counter. You don't mind, right? It looked like it was almost empty anyway, and I didn't want it to expire."

"And a few of your lipsticks—I was just swatching them. One of them accidentally snapped, but I put it back for you."

I stared at her.

"Ashley, did you bring someone home last night?"

She turned around, her expression incredibly natural.

"Yeah, my boyfriend. You've met him, haven't you?"

"He wanted to see our place, so I brought him over."

"We stayed in my room. I only changed your sheets because I was worried they'd get dusty while you were gone."

Every lie was perfectly wrapped.

I gripped the delivery receipt tighter.

The delivery note explicitly told the driver to just push the door open.

If she and her boyfriend were home, why would she tell a delivery driver to just walk in?

I didn't call her out.

I just nodded.

"Okay. Good to know."

Ashley smiled, turning back to her room.

The moment her door clicked shut, I heard her whispering on the phone.

"She’s back. Yeah, it's fine. She didn't suspect a thing."

"That idiot is so easy to fool."