Chapter 4

At 7:00 PM, I went back upstairs.

Ashley was in the kitchen cooking ramen.

Seeing me walk in, she smiled. "Rough day at work? I made some ramen, want a bowl?"

I looked at her innocent face.

"Ashley, did you touch my iPad this afternoon?"

Her hand paused for a second before she resumed stirring.

"No. I was napping all afternoon. Are you sure you didn't just leave it somewhere?"

"Before I left, the iPad was on the couch, and there was cash on the table."

"Oh, the cash! I put it away in your desk drawer," she said, completely unfazed. "I was worried the AC draft would blow it away."

"And the iPad?"

"I just plugged it in for you. The battery was low."

Every excuse was seamless.

But I had the footage.

I chose not to confront her yet.

"Okay, thanks."

I went into my room and locked the door.

I pulled up the live stream on my phone.

At 9:00 PM, Ashley went out.

Half an hour later, she returned with a man in his late forties.

He was carrying a bottle of red wine.

Ashley unlocked the door, smiling. "Come on in. My roommate is staying at her boyfriend's tonight."

The man looked around. "Nice place. You live here alone?"

"Yeah, I like my peace and quiet."

Ashley led him to the couch and poured the wine. They chatted, and Ashley kept giggling at his jokes.

At 10:00 PM, the man went to the bathroom.

The second the door closed, Ashley snatched his jacket from the back of the chair, pulled out his wallet, and took photos of his driver's license and credit cards with her phone.

She slipped everything back in. Her movements were so practiced it made my skin crawl.

When the man came out, Ashley leaned in close, her voice dropping to a whisper.

"Richard, remember when you said you’d get me that bag? Does that promise still stand?"

The man blinked, then laughed. "Of course. Which one do you want?"

Ashley opened a shopping app and pointed to a designer bag priced at twelve thousand dollars.

"This one."

The man looked at the price, his smile faltering slightly.

"Sure. I'll transfer you the money tomorrow."

"Can't you do it tonight?" Ashley pouted, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I really want to order it now."

Hesitating for a moment, the man pulled out his phone and Venmoed her twelve thousand dollars.

"Thanks, babe," Ashley said, planting a quick kiss on his cheek.

Then, she stood up. "Actually, Richard, it's getting really late. I have an early meeting tomorrow, so you should probably head out."

The man was stunned. "Wait, I thought tonight we were..."

"Next time, I promise. I'm really not feeling well tonight," Ashley said, pushing him toward the door.

The man looked annoyed, but he ultimately left.

The moment the door shut, Ashley whipped out her phone and transferred the twelve grand to her savings.

Then she sat on the couch, scrolling through the photos of his credit cards.

She muttered to herself, "Richard Mercer... Managing Director at Mercer Consulting... Lives in..."

She was gathering blackmail material.

I didn't know what she planned to do with that information, but it was nothing good.

I turned off my phone and lay in bed.

I didn't sleep a wink that night.