Chapter 5: The Version He Told Kayla
Greg called three times the next day.
I let all three go to voicemail.
Patricia had been clear: no direct communication outside of what was legally required.
I forwarded each voicemail to her without listening to them past the first sentence.
The fourth call wasn't from Greg.
It was from a number I didn't recognize, and I almost didn't pick up.
But something made me answer.
"Is this Claire?" A young woman's voice.
Uncertain.
"Yes.
Who is this?"
A pause.
"It's Kayla."
I sat down slowly.
"How did you get this number?"
"Greg's phone.
He left it on the counter when he was in the shower." Another pause.
"I'm sorry.
I know this is strange.
I just — I need to ask you something."
I looked at the ceiling for a moment.
Every instinct said to hang up.
Patricia's voice was already in my head: *no direct communication.*
But Kayla was twenty years old.
And the way she'd looked in that backyard — that confusion, that slow-dawning expression — had stayed with me.
"What do you want to ask?" I said.
"The apartment." Her voice was careful.
"He told me he signed the lease in January.
After everything was finished with you.
He was very specific about that.
He said January."
"The lease is dated August 14th," I said.
"Of the year before."
Silence.
"We were still in mediation in August," I said.
"We didn't have a finalized settlement until December."
More silence.
Longer this time.
"He told me you two were basically done by then," she said.
"That it was just paperwork."
"It was a court process," I said.
"With financial disclosures.
Under oath."
I heard her exhale slowly.
"Did you know about the LLC?" I asked.
"The what?"
"The business he registered.
Same address as the apartment.
Same date."
Nothing.
"Kayla." I kept my voice even.
"I'm not angry at you.
I want to be clear about that.
But I need you to understand that whatever he told you about the timeline, about me, about the money — you should ask him to show you the documents."
"He doesn't show me documents," she said quietly.
"He says I don't need to worry about that stuff."
I closed my eyes briefly.
"He said the same thing to me," I said.
"For seven years."
She didn't respond to that.
But she didn't hang up either.
"Why are you telling me this?" she asked finally.
"Because you called me," I said.
"And because you're twenty years old and you deserve to know what you're dealing with."
Another long pause.
"Is there anything else on that lease?" she asked.
"Any other names?"
The question landed strangely.
There was something specific about it — not general curiosity, but a particular shape to the question.
"What are you asking me, Kayla?"
She hesitated.
"The second bedroom," she said slowly.
"He told me it was for Leo.
For his weekends.
That's why he wanted Leo to come stay.
To use the second bedroom."
"Okay."
"I've never seen that room," she said.
"He keeps it locked.
He said it was storage until he got it set up properly." Her voice had changed — quieter, more careful.
"I asked him once if I could help set it up.
He said no.
He said he'd handle it."
I didn't say anything.
"I found a key last week," she said.
"In his coat pocket.
It doesn't match any of our locks."
The kitchen felt very still.
"Kayla," I said carefully.
"Where are you right now?"
"At the apartment."
"Is Greg there?"
"No.
He went out an hour ago."
I thought about Patricia's instructions.
I thought about the LLC.
I thought about a locked room in an apartment that had been signed eight months before Greg claimed it existed.
"Don't go into that room alone," I said.
"Why not?"
"Because I don't know what's in there," I said.
"And neither do you.
And until you do, you shouldn't be alone when you find out."
A long silence.
"You're scaring me," she said.
"I know," I said.
"I'm sorry."
She hung up two minutes later.
I sat at the kitchen table for a long time after that, the phone still in my hand, thinking about a locked door and a key that didn't match any lock Kayla knew about.
I called Patricia.
May you like
"There may be more to this than the lease and the LLC," I said when she picked up.
"Tell me," she said.
