Blatant lies

**Nora**

I sat, frozen, staring at the blank screen in front of me. How had it all gone so wrong? One moment, I had been reveling in my plans, feeling the triumph of my manipulations, and now, I was left with nothing but this suffocating uncertainty.

"Ma'am, we are terribly sorry to disturb you, but your checkout time was an hour ago."

The voice snapped me out of my spiraling thoughts. Two women, dressed in hotel service uniforms, stood at the door, their eyes wary but professional.

"Ma'am..." The fair one began again, but I cut her off, frustrated.

"What?!" I snapped, not even hiding the irritation in my tone. My hands were trembling from the stress of everything that had happened, but the last thing I needed was their useless apologies.

"I... I didn't how was I supposed to know?" I muttered, my mind racing back to the man who had so easily tricked me. How had I allowed myself to get caught up in his games?