Chapter 10 - The Uninvited Witness
Maya and Corey both spun around toward the hallway. Standing near the elevators was a man neither of them expected to see.
It was Isaiah.
He wasn't wearing his grey button-down shirt anymore; instead, he wore a heavy black wool overcoat, his braided hair pulled back neatly, and his wire-rimmed glasses catching the harsh hallway light. He wasn't holding a bouquet of pink peonies this time. Instead, his hands were shoved deep into his coat pockets, and his expression was an unreadable mask of absolute, chilling calm.
"Isaiah?" Maya gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. "I thought you checked out. Arthur said you had suitcases..."
"Arthur does what he’s paid to do," Isaiah said, his voice level, carrying effortlessly down the empty corridor. He walked slowly toward unit 2204, his footsteps steady and unhurried. "I forgot my spare car keys in the kitchen drawer. But I’m glad I came back up. It’s not every day you get to see a Greek tragedy play out in real-time in your own hallway."
Corey tensed up instantly, stepping slightly in front of Maya as if shielding her from a physical threat. "You must be Isaiah. I'm Corey."
Isaiah stopped three feet away from them, looking Corey up and down with a clinical, detached curiosity. A faint, humorless smile touched the corner of his mouth. "I know who you are, Corey. Maya talks in her sleep. Or at least, she used to, back when she was still trying to convince herself that you were just a bad habit she had kicked."
Maya felt the heat rush to her face, burning hot and humiliating. "Isaiah, stop it. Don't do this."
"Why not?" Isaiah asked softly, shifting his gaze from Corey to Maya. His eyes were completely devoid of the hurt she had seen earlier in the boutique; they were replaced by something far more terrifying—absolute indifference. "She called you from the fitting room, right? She told you I was safe. She told you she wasn't in love with me like she was with you."
Corey jaw tightened. "If you knew she didn't want you, why did you propose in the first place, man? Why string her along?"
"String her along?" Isaiah let out a short, cold laugh. "I built a life with her, Corey. I loved her with every single thing I had. I didn't know she was looking for a safety net until she confessed it to her friend while standing right in front of me. I didn't string her along. She strung us along."
Isaiah reached past them into the apartment, picking up his spare car keys from the counter where he had apparently left them earlier. He turned back toward the door, pausing just long enough to look Maya dead in the eye.
May you like
"Keep the dress, Maya," Isaiah said quietly. "You earned it. But don't look for me tomorrow when your parents show up. I already told them everything."
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