No Longer Mrs. Cooley: The Architect's Return

Night had fallen over the city. Haleigh lay in the master bed, staring at the ceiling. She hadn't cleaned up the broken glass.

She knew Brylee. Brylee was impatient. Brylee was greedy. Now that she was "co-manager" of Zenith, she would want to prove herself immediately. She would need the confidential files Haleigh kept in the bedroom safe.

Haleigh had prepared. She had left a stack of files on the desk-decoys. And she had placed a single strand of her own long, dark hair across the top folder.

She turned off the lamp. The room plunged into darkness, save for the moonlight slicing through the curtains.

She waited.

At 2:00 AM, the handle turned.

Haleigh had left it unlocked on purpose.

The door creaked open. A shadow entered. It was bulky, moving with a clumsiness that betrayed nerves.

Brylee.

The shadow moved toward the desk. The soft glow of a phone flashlight clicked on, sweeping over the papers.

Haleigh opened her eyes. She lay perfectly still, controlling her breathing.

Rustle. Rustle.

Brylee was flipping through the files.

Haleigh sat up. The mattress springs didn't make a sound.

"What are you looking for?"

Her voice was low, ghostly.

Brylee shrieked. It was a high, thin sound of pure terror. The phone clattered to the floor, the light spinning wildly.

Haleigh reached over and flicked on the bedside lamp.

Brylee was pressed against the desk, clutching her chest. Her face was the color of paper.

"I... I..." Brylee stammered. "I have a headache. I was looking for aspirin. Inez said you kept some in here."

Haleigh swung her legs out of bed. She stood up and walked slowly toward Brylee.

"Aspirin is in the bathroom," Haleigh said. "Not in my project files."

She stopped inches from Brylee. Haleigh was taller, and in this moment, she felt like a giant.

"You look guilty, Bry," Haleigh said softly. She reached out and brushed a piece of lint off Brylee's shoulder.

Brylee flinched as if burned. She stumbled back, hitting the edge of the desk. "You're paranoid. You need help."

Haleigh leaned in, her lips close to Brylee's ear.

"You know what happens to rats when they come out at night?"

Brylee trembled. "What?"

"They get their necks snapped."

The silence that followed was heavy with violence.

Brylee grabbed her phone from the floor and bolted. She ran out of the room without looking back.

Haleigh watched the empty doorway. A cold smile touched her lips.

She walked to the desk. The hair was gone.

She sat on the edge of the bed. The adrenaline faded, leaving a dull ache in her abdomen. An old injury.

She touched the scar on her side. The construction site accident two years ago. She had pushed Gray out of the way of a falling rebar. It had pierced her side, damaging her uterus.

"You may never conceive," the doctor had said.

Gray had cried. He had held her hand. "It doesn't matter. Adoption, surrogacy, it doesn't matter. I just want you."

A tear leaked from Haleigh's eye. She wiped it away furiously.

He had lied. He had used her infertility-caused by saving his life-as the excuse to replace her with her best friend.

There would be no mercy.