The lights dimmed. The projector hummed to life.
Charlie stepped forward. “Stop this. Now.”
“Why?” I asked, loud enough for the whole room to hear. “Are you afraid of the ‘beautiful’ things you’ve been looking at?”
The first image hit the screen. It wasn’t Jessica.
It was a screenshot of Charlie’s bank statements from the last six months.
May 12: $450 – Tiffany & Co. (I didn’t get a necklace in May).
June 14: $1,200 – Hotel Plaza Athénée, Paris. (Charlie was supposedly at a ‘leadership retreat’ in Chicago).
July 20: $200 – Flower Delivery, J. Reed.
The room went silent. Jessica’s smirk vanished. Charlie’s jaw dropped.