Chapter 2

"Dylan, I brought you a gift. It's over there."

She pointed at the model on the table. My eyes lit up. "Is this the limited edition I've been waiting years for?"

Distracted, I turned it over in my hands. Then, while Victoria wasn't looking, I yanked the wardrobe open.

I searched left to right, top to bottom. No one.

Victoria straightened the clothes inside, her voice perfectly even. "Which pajamas do you want, Dylan?"

There was nowhere else to hide. Maybe I was overthinking it. Maybe no one was here.

I pointed to my usual set and let my guard down.

Must be a system glitch. Some program starting on its own.

For security, I had facial recognition cameras at the front door and a hidden camera inside pointing at the entrance. Anyone other than Victoria or me would trigger an alert on my phone.

The next day, right after lunch at the office, the smart home app pinged again.

"Master bedroom bathroom light has been turned on."

"Master bathroom aromatherapy bath mode activated. Please enjoy."

I pulled up the surveillance footage. Ten times speed, from the moment I left. No one entered the house.

Must be a bug in the new smart home system.

I told my assistant to schedule an upgrade and dismissed the notification.

That evening, I had dinner with Jason, an old friend I hadn't seen in a while.

We talked about childhood dreams. I smiled and pulled up a photo on my phone. "Look what my wife brought me from her business trip."

Jason studied it. "This is a limited edition—hard to find now. Too bad about the lipstick mark on it. Kind of ruins the collectible."

I froze.

Why would Victoria put lipstick on a model? It didn't even come in a gift box.

Or had she bought me a counterfeit?

I video-called Victoria. When I told her, she apologized quickly. "Sorry, Dylan. I noticed my lip color looked pale and touched it up at my vanity. I don't know anything about collectibles. I'll get you another one."

This model was years old, nearly impossible to find. I was already grateful she'd managed to get one at all.

I smiled and dropped it.

Then my phone pinged again. The bathtub was in aromatherapy mode. It ended over an hour later.

Victoria never washed that fast. The system really was broken.

A week later, I was about to board a train for a business trip to the neighboring city when the security guard called.

"Mr. Sullivan, your friend just registered your unit number and went in."

I'd mentioned that once. I didn't expect the guard to remember, or to actually pass it along.

I left the boarding gate and opened the surveillance app.

Three minutes later, Victoria appeared at the front door. No one was with her.

But she knocked first, waited a few seconds, then went in.

I scrolled back on the camera feed opposite the door.

When I reached the timestamp of her entry—

A shirtless man stood inside the doorway, arms open to welcome her.