Chapter 3 - The Video They Tried to Erase
Cole sprinted through the dining room.
Thomas handed Rebecca to Mrs. Alvarez.
“Stay with the children.”
Then he followed Cole.
Guests moved aside as Cole rushed through the open garden doors.
He headed toward the swimming pool.
Thomas saw the phone in his hand.
Cole was still tapping the screen.
“Stop.”
Cole looked over his shoulder.
His foot caught the edge of a lounge chair.
He stumbled but did not fall.
Madison stepped into his path.
“Give me the phone.”
Cole shoved past her.
“Move.”
Madison grabbed his arm.
The phone slipped from his hand.
It landed on the stone patio and skidded beneath a table.
Thomas reached it first.
The screen was cracked.
A message remained visible.
DELETE ALL SHARED FILES?
Cole lunged for the phone.
Thomas stepped between him and the table.
“What files?”
Cole looked toward Denise.
His mother shook her head slightly.
Thomas saw it.
“So your mother knows.”
Denise approached quickly.
“They were harmless videos.”
“Videos of what?”
“Children helping at a family party.”
Thomas unlocked the phone using Cole’s face before he could turn away.
The gallery contained dozens of clips.
In one video, Jacob scrubbed the same spot while Cole poured more sauce onto the table.
In another, Madison balanced an extra plate on Rebecca’s stack while relatives laughed.
The third video showed Samuel asking for a piece of bread.
Denise struck his fingers away.
“Guests first.”
Samuel stared at the bread on the grass.
Cole’s voice came from behind the camera.
“Servants eat later.”
Thomas stopped the video.
His hand tightened around the phone.
Denise lifted her chin.
“You cannot take a minor’s property.”
Thomas looked toward Cole.
“Did you post these?”
Cole said nothing.
Madison answered for him.
“He streamed some of them privately.”
“To whom?”
“Our school group.”
Cole glared at her.
“Shut up.”
Madison’s eyes filled with anger.
“You told everyone they were poor relatives Dad hired for the day.”
Thomas looked at Cole.
“They are your cousins.”
Cole shrugged.
“Grandpa said their mother’s family was trash.”
Samuel had followed Mrs. Alvarez outside.
He heard every word.
Thomas saw the pain cross his son’s face.
Their mother, Emily, had been dead for three years.
She had worked as a nurse.
Robert had never forgiven Thomas for marrying someone without wealth or status.
Thomas handed the phone to his security manager, Nolan.
“Make a copy of everything.”
Robert marched toward them in a clean jacket someone had given him.
“You have no authority to seize that phone.”
Thomas faced him.
“I have authority over my own security team.”
“This is still my property.”
Thomas pointed toward the mansion.
“I purchased the estate when your bank was preparing to foreclose.”
“You purchased paper.”
“I purchased the land, the house, and every building on it.”
Robert’s face reddened.
“And then you allowed us to continue living here.”
“I allowed my parents to keep their home.”
“You used money to humiliate me.”
Thomas gave him a cold look.
“No.”
“You used my kindness to humiliate my children.”
Nolan approached with the phone.
“Sir, several files were transferred to another device this afternoon.”
“Whose device?”
Nolan turned the screen toward Thomas.
The destination name appeared clearly.
ROBERT’S OFFICE COMPUTER.
Rebecca suddenly stepped forward.
“That’s where I saw the yellow envelope.”
Nolan looked at Thomas.
“There is something else.”
He opened Cole’s messages.
At 2:16 that afternoon, Robert had sent one instruction.
KEEP THE CHILDREN BUSY UNTIL THOMAS SIGNS.
Thomas slowly raised his eyes toward his father.
Robert’s confidence vanished.
Then a car engine roared near the front gate.
A black sedan accelerated away from the estate.
May you like
Rebecca pointed toward it.
“That’s the man who had the yellow envelope.”
