Chapter 8 - THE FIRST CHILD
Ethan read the article twice.
The words barely made sense.
Five-year-old Noah Walsh had been taken to an emergency room seven years earlier after becoming unconscious at home.
Doctors found high levels of sedating medication in his system.
The investigation ended without charges.
Ethan looked at Eleanor.
“Why wasn’t Vivian arrested?”
“Andrew believed her.”
Eleanor’s voice trembled.
“She told him Noah took the medicine himself.”
“A five-year-old?”
“She said he climbed onto the bathroom counter.”
“And everybody believed that?”
“There wasn’t enough evidence.”
Ethan slapped the article onto the table.
“You knew this.”
Eleanor flinched.
“I suspected.”
“You knew enough to keep a newspaper clipping for seven years.”
“I was afraid.”
“Of your daughter?”
“Yes.”
The answer surprised him.
Eleanor wiped her eyes.
“You don’t know Vivian like I do.”
Ethan almost laughed.
“I’m starting to.”
“She needs control. Always has.”
“You’re talking about her like she’s some kind of monster.”
Eleanor met his eyes.
“She can be.”
Ethan paced.
“And you said nothing when I married her.”
“She told me she had changed.”
“You believed that?”
“I wanted to.”
Ethan pointed toward Lily’s room.
“My daughter paid for what you wanted to believe.”
Eleanor broke down.
“I know.”
He wanted to scream at her.
But he was too tired.
Too angry.
Too focused.
“Where is Andrew Walsh now?”
“Colorado.”
“Does he know?”
“I called him this morning.”
Ethan stared at her.
“This morning?”
“Vivian called me after the police arrived.”
“What did she say?”
Eleanor hesitated.
“She said you were trying to ruin her.”
“Of course.”
“She asked me to tell police she was a good mother.”
“And?”
“I told her I couldn’t.”
Ethan leaned closer.
“What else?”
“She said if I didn’t help her, she would tell them I knew about Andrew’s son.”
Ethan went still.
Eleanor began crying again.
“So I called Andrew.”
Detective Chen entered ten minutes later.
She listened without interrupting.
Then she asked Eleanor for Andrew’s contact information.
By midnight, investigators were speaking with him.
The next morning, Andrew joined a video call.
He was forty-two.
Tired-looking.
He had the face of a man who had spent years blaming himself.
“Noah is twelve now,” he said.
“Is he okay?” Ethan asked.
“Physically.”
That word carried weight.
Andrew looked away.
“He had nightmares for years.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
Andrew continued.
“Vivian used to lock him in closets when I traveled.”
Exactly like Lily.
“She told him I would put him into foster care if he complained.”
Exactly like Lily.
“She called it discipline.”
Exactly like Lily.
Ethan clenched his jaw.
“Did she give him medicine?”
“I think she did.”
“Why didn’t you report her?”
“I did after the hospital.”
“What happened?”
“She convinced everyone Noah had gotten into it himself. Even me, for a while.”
Andrew’s voice cracked.
“I still hate myself for that.”
Ethan looked toward Lily sleeping through the glass.
“You believed someone you loved.”
Andrew shook his head.
“That doesn’t make the guilt disappear.”
“No.”
Ethan understood that perfectly.
Andrew leaned closer to the camera.
“There’s something else you need to know.”
Ethan looked back.
“What?”
“When I finally told Vivian I wanted a divorce, she emptied my accounts.”
Ethan’s expression changed.
“How?”
“Forged documents. Electronic transfers. Same pattern.”
Michael, who had joined the call, looked sharply at Ethan.
Andrew continued.
“She almost destroyed me.”
“How much?”
“About four hundred thousand dollars.”
“And she got away with it?”
“Most of it.”
Ethan stared at Detective Chen.
She was taking notes.
Andrew said, “If she’s doing this again, she probably has somewhere to run.”
Chen looked up.
“We’re already checking travel records.”
Then her phone rang.
She answered.
Listened.
Her expression hardened.
“What time?”
She stood.
“We need a unit there now.”
Ethan rose.
“What happened?”
Chen ended the call.
May you like
She looked at him.
“Vivian is gone.”
