Chapter 4 - THE MESSAGE FROM HER MOTHER
Ethan couldn’t speak for several seconds.
Lily’s mother, Sarah, had been dead for three years.
She died when Lily was eleven months old.
A highway collision.
A drunk driver.
One phone call had turned Ethan from a husband into a widowed father before he was thirty-five.
He sat beside Lily.
“What do you mean Mommy told you?”
Lily frowned.
“Not Mommy.”
She pointed to a small stuffed bear.
“My mommy voice.”
Rosa picked up the bear.
“It used to belong to Mrs. Cole.”
Ethan nodded slowly.
Sarah had recorded messages for Lily during her pregnancy.
Songs.
Bedtime stories.
Little notes for birthdays she might someday hear.
After Sarah died, Ethan placed some of those recordings inside a sound module in the stuffed bear.
Lily called it her mommy voice.
Ethan looked at the memory card.
“Where was this?”
Rosa opened a small zipper under the bear.
“Inside here.”
Ethan remembered something.
Before Sarah’s death, she handled most of the smart-home system.
She had installed backup cameras after a burglary in their old neighborhood.
When Ethan moved into the new mansion, he transferred some of the system.
Could the card be connected?
He inserted it into his laptop.
One folder appeared.
SARAH BACKUP.
Ethan’s chest tightened.
He clicked.
Inside were home videos.
Lily as a baby.
Sarah laughing in the kitchen.
Sarah holding Lily.
Ethan almost stopped.
Then he saw another folder.
SECURITY AUTO-BACKUP.
The dates were recent.
Very recent.
Rosa leaned over.
“Sir…”
Ethan opened the folder.
Dozens of clips appeared.
Apparently, the old camera system had been automatically copying footage to the hidden card whenever certain motion alerts were triggered.
Ethan stared at the screen.
The first clip showed Vivian standing in Lily’s bedroom.
Lily was crying.
Vivian took away her stuffed bear.
“You don’t get this tonight.”
“Please.”
“You want your daddy?”
Lily nodded.
Vivian leaned close.
“Then behave.”
The next video was worse.
Lily sat at the kitchen table.
Vivian placed a plate in front of her.
Broccoli and chicken.
Lily took two bites.
“I’m full.”
Vivian grabbed the plate.
“You don’t eat again until tomorrow.”
Ethan’s jaw clenched.
Another video.
Vivian forcing Lily to stand facing the wall.
Another.
Vivian telling Lily that Ethan would send her away if she complained.
Another.
Vivian locking the storage-room door.
Another.
Lily crying in the dark.
Ethan shut the laptop.
He couldn’t watch more.
Rosa was crying silently.
“I knew she was strict,” Rosa whispered. “I didn’t know this.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Did you ever see her hurt Lily?”
Rosa hesitated.
That hesitation was enough.
“Rosa.”
“Two months ago, Miss Vivian grabbed Lily very hard. I told her to stop.”
“What happened?”
“She said I would be fired if I interfered with family matters.”
Ethan stood.
“You should have told me.”
“I tried.”
He froze.
“What?”
Rosa wiped her eyes.
“I sent you a message.”
“I never got one.”
“I texted you that I needed to talk privately about Lily.”
Ethan pulled out his phone.
“Show me.”
Rosa showed him her screen.
There it was.
Sent six weeks ago.
Ethan searched his phone.
Nothing.
Then he remembered.
Vivian knew his password.
She often handled calls when he was in meetings.
A terrible possibility formed.
“Rosa, did you ever send anything else?”
“Yes.”
“How many?”
“Four messages.”
Ethan searched.
All missing.
He looked toward the doorway.
Vivian was standing there.
Police sirens could now be heard outside.
Her face was unreadable.
Ethan held up his phone.
“You deleted Rosa’s messages.”
Vivian shrugged.
“She exaggerates.”
“You knew.”
“I knew she was trying to turn you against me.”
“No. You knew someone had noticed.”
The doorbell rang.
Vivian suddenly smiled.
Not a nervous smile.
A confident one.
“You think the police are going to take your side because you’re angry?”
Ethan stared at her.
She lowered her voice.
“You should check who owns this house before you start throwing me out.”
Ethan frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
Vivian’s smile widened.
May you like
Then she said something he never expected.
“You signed it over to me six months ago.”
