Chapter 2 - The Recording They Never Wanted Me To Hear
The doorknob moved again.
Slowly.
Someone was trying to open the bathroom door.
I grabbed the phone and pulled it close to my chest.
For a few seconds, I couldn't move.
I couldn't breathe.
My entire body was focused on one thing.
The message on the screen.
"Emily, if you found this, they don't know I recorded everything."
Everything.
That one word felt heavier than the pain in my stomach.
What had been recorded?
Who had recorded it?
And why was someone hiding my phone inside the wall?
"Emily."
Daniel's voice came through the door.
Calm.
Almost gentle.
That scared me more than if he had been angry.
"Open the door. We need to talk."
I looked at the phone again.
My hands were shaking.
For hours, I had believed I was trapped because my husband wanted a divorce.
But now I understood.
The divorce papers were only part of something bigger.
I pressed the power button.
The screen showed a hidden folder.
A folder I had never seen before.
No name.
Just a small lock symbol.
My fingers hovered over it.
Then another contraction hit.
Hard.
I covered my mouth to stop myself from crying out.
The pain was overwhelming.
But somehow, the fear was stronger.
Because I knew something.
If Daniel knew I had this phone, I might never find out the truth.
"Emily?"
Victoria's voice joined his.
"Don't make this harder than it needs to be."
I stared at the bathroom door.
The woman who had watched me pack my own belongings.
The woman who had stood beside my husband while he abandoned me.
She sounded annoyed.
Not worried.
Not concerned about me.
Only worried about control.
I unlocked the phone.
The hidden folder opened.
Inside was one video.
Created two hours earlier.
The name of the file made my heart stop.
"IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO EMILY."
I pressed play.
The screen showed a dark room.
At first, I couldn't recognize anything.
Then I heard a voice.
My voice.
"Please, Daniel. Don't do this."
I froze.
That wasn't from tonight.
It was from earlier.
Someone had recorded my conversation.
The video angle was strange.
It looked like it was recorded secretly from inside the bedroom.
I watched myself on the screen.
I watched Daniel standing in front of me.
I watched Victoria holding the divorce papers.
But then I heard something I didn't remember.
Daniel's voice.
"If she refuses to sign, we move to the next step."
My stomach tightened.
Next step?
The video continued.
Victoria leaned closer to Daniel.
"What about the baby?"
Daniel didn't answer immediately.
Then he said something that made my blood run cold.
"The baby changes nothing."
I covered my mouth.
Even though I already knew he didn't care.
Hearing him say it when he thought I couldn't hear was different.
The video continued.
Victoria looked toward the hidden camera.
Almost like she knew it was there.
"Are you sure nobody can find out?"
Daniel smiled.
"No one will believe her."
The screen went black.
I stared at the phone.
My hands went cold.
They weren't just leaving me.
They were preparing for something.
A knock hit the door.
Harder this time.
"Emily."
Daniel's voice changed.
The softness disappeared.
"Give me the phone."
My heart stopped.
How did he know?
I looked at the screen.
The video was still there.
Then I realized.
The hidden phone wasn't only hidden from me.
It had been hidden because someone knew Daniel would look for it.
I quickly opened the message folder.
There were more messages.
Dozens.
All from the same unknown number.
The latest one appeared only seconds ago.
"Don't let them take the phone back."
I stared at the words.
Someone was watching.
Someone knew what was happening.
Another message arrived.
"Go to the hospital. Don't trust Daniel."
I swallowed.
My first instinct was to run.
But where could I go?
I was injured.
I was pregnant.
I was locked inside a bathroom.
And the only people who were supposed to protect me were outside the door.
"Emily."
Daniel hit the door again.
"You don't understand what's happening."
I almost laughed.
Because he was right.
I didn't understand.
Not until that moment.
I didn't understand why he had changed.
Why he stopped coming home early.
Why he deleted my messages.
Why Victoria suddenly moved into our house.
Why they were so desperate for my signature.
But I was about to find out.
I looked around the bathroom.
The small window above the bathtub.
Too small for me.
The door.
Locked.
The wall panel.
Open.
My eyes returned to the hidden space.
Someone had planned this.
Someone had created a way for me to find the phone.
But why?
I searched through the phone settings.
Then I found something.
A recording application.
It was still running.
A small red dot blinked at the top of the screen.
Someone was recording right now.
I looked toward the door.
My breathing stopped.
The phone wasn't just showing me what happened.
It was capturing what was happening.
Daniel was outside.
Victoria was outside.
And they had no idea I could hear everything.
I placed the phone on the floor near the door.
Then I turned the volume down.
A few seconds passed.
Daniel and Victoria started talking.
Quietly.
But the phone captured every word.
"She found it."
Victoria.
My body went still.
Daniel sighed.
"How?"
"I don't know."
"Then find out."
A pause.
Then Victoria whispered:
"What if she already saw the video?"
Silence.
A long silence.
Then Daniel spoke.
"Then we cannot let her leave this house."
My heart dropped.
I covered my mouth.
A tear rolled down my cheek.
Not because I was scared.
Because I finally understood.
They were never planning to let me reach the hospital.
Another contraction came.
I held my stomach and leaned against the wall.
My baby was coming.
And I was trapped with two people who wanted me silent.
The recording continued.
Victoria lowered her voice.
"There is still one problem."
"What?"
"Her sister."
I froze.
My sister?
Daniel didn't answer.
Victoria continued.
"She knows Emily too well. If she sees those injuries, she will ask questions."
Daniel sighed.
"Then we make sure she doesn't see them."
I stared at the phone.
My sister.
They were worried about my sister finding out.
But why?
Then another message appeared.
This time from the unknown number.
Only five words.
"Your sister already knows."
I stopped breathing.
How could that be possible?
Before I could process it, the bathroom lights suddenly turned off.
The room went completely dark.
The phone screen became the only light.
Then I heard something.
Not from outside.
Not from Daniel.
From inside the bathroom.
A quiet sound.
A small click.
I slowly turned toward the wall panel.
The same place where I found the phone.
Something inside had moved.
I grabbed the phone flashlight.
My hands shook as I pointed it toward the opening.
There was something else hidden behind the wall.
Something wrapped in a piece of cloth.
I reached toward it.
Then the cloth slipped.
A small object fell onto the bathroom floor.
A necklace.
I recognized it immediately.
Because it belonged to someone who was supposed to be nowhere near my house.
My sister's necklace.
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And underneath it was a note with one sentence written in black ink:
"Emily, if you are reading this, your sister never made it home..."
