Chapter 2: Watch This First
The video filled Maya's phone screen.
Black-and-white security footage.
The camera angle was high, fixed above the living room entrance.
Marcus leaned closer.
Denise stopped breathing.
Jordan stared at the screen as if he couldn't believe someone had finally listened to him.
Maya held the phone steady.
“Look.””
The footage showed the living room several minutes earlier.
Jordan stood near the sofa.
Tiana was across from him.
Their mouths moved, but the security camera had no audio.
Tiana stepped toward Jordan.
Jordan stepped back.
Tiana stepped closer.
Jordan raised his hands.
Then Tiana lunged.
Marcus's eyes narrowed.
On the screen, Jordan didn't strike her.
He blocked her arms.
He backed away.
Tiana came after him again.
Jordan turned his shoulder and tried to get around her.
Tiana grabbed at him.
He pushed her hands away.
Then the footage ended.
Marcus stared at the frozen image.
Nobody spoke.
Maya lowered the phone slightly.
“I told you.””
Marcus looked at Jordan.
Jordan's face crumpled with relief.
“Dad…”
Marcus didn't answer.
Denise reached for the phone.
“Let me see it again.””
Maya replayed it.
This time, everyone watched more carefully.
Tiana stood perfectly still.
Her dramatic crying had stopped.
No trembling.
No shaking.
Just silence.
Marcus noticed.
His eyes moved from the phone to Tiana.
“Tiana.””
She looked at him.
“Yes?””
“Why did you say he attacked you?””
Tiana swallowed.
“I was scared.””
Marcus held up a hand.
“Don't.””
She froze.
“I just watched the video.””
“I know.””
“So tell me why.””
Tiana glanced at Denise.
Denise's expression had changed.
She was no longer protecting Tiana.
Not yet.
But she wasn't protecting her blindly, either.
Tiana wiped her cheeks.
“He made me angry.””
Jordan stared.
“That doesn't explain anything.””
“Jordan,” Denise warned.
“No, Mom.”” Jordan's voice shook.
“I've been standing here listening to everybody act like I did something.””
Marcus turned to him.
“What did she say to you before the fight?””
Jordan hesitated.
Tiana immediately interrupted.
“Nothing.””
Jordan looked at her.
“You told me I should leave.””
Tiana's eyes flashed.
“I didn't say that.””
“You did.””
“Why would I?””
“I don't know!””
Maya stepped closer.
“There’s more footage.””
Tiana's face changed.
Maya saw it.
Marcus saw it too.
“More?”” Marcus asked.
Maya nodded.
“The camera caught what happened before that.””
“Play it,” Marcus said.
Maya tapped the screen.
The footage rewound.
Tiana appeared again.
This time, the camera caught something everyone had missed.
Before she approached Jordan, Tiana looked toward the hallway.
She wasn't looking at Jordan.
She was looking somewhere behind him.
Then she walked toward him.
Jordan followed her movement with his eyes.
“Wait.””
Maya paused the video.
Jordan pointed.
“She keeps looking over there.””
Marcus turned toward the hallway.
It was dark.
A half-open door stood at the end of it.
Nobody was visible.
Marcus looked back at Maya.
“Play it.””
Maya did.
Tiana approached Jordan.
She said something.
Jordan shook his head.
Tiana looked toward the hallway again.
Then she attacked.
But Maya didn't stop the video.
The footage continued.
Tiana stood over Jordan.
She glanced toward the hallway one more time.
Then she leaned slightly toward the edge of the camera's view.
Her lips moved.
Marcus stepped closer to the phone.
“What did she say?””
Maya rewound it.
Again.
Tiana's lips moved.
Again.
Maya enlarged the image.
The grainy footage sharpened just enough.
Tiana wasn't speaking to Jordan.
She was speaking to someone outside the camera frame.
Her lips formed four words.
Marcus stared.
Maya whispered, “Oh my God.””
Denise looked at her.
“What?””
Maya didn't answer.
She replayed it one last time.
Tiana turned toward the unseen person.
And whispered:
“Is this what you wanted?””
The room became ice-cold.
Jordan slowly lowered his hands.
Marcus looked at Tiana.
“Tiana…”
She backed away.
“Tiana, who were you talking to?””
She shook her head.
“I wasn't.””
Marcus took one step forward.
“You were.””
“No.””
“Who was in that hallway?””
Tiana's breathing changed.
For the first time that night, she looked genuinely terrified.
May you like
And then, from somewhere beyond the half-open door—
came the faint sound of movement.
