Chapter 6 - THE VIDEO THEY WANTED THE WORLD TO SEE
Ryan called Detective Morris immediately.
The edited video had already been sent to three local parenting groups and one gossip account.
By 3:00 p.m., strangers were sharing it.
The clip lasted only seventeen seconds.
Maya was screaming.
A lamp broke.
Oliver cried.
Nothing showed what happened before.
Nothing showed Evelyn taking the inhaler.
The caption read:
WEALTHY MOTHER LOSES CONTROL AROUND SICK TODDLER.
Maya stared at her phone.
“They’re calling me a monster.”
Ryan took it from her.
“Don’t read it.”
“How can I not?”
“Maya—”
“They think I hurt him.”
Her voice cracked.
“They think I hurt my own son.”
Ryan knelt in front of her.
“Look at me.”
She did.
“I saw the full video.”
“I know.”
“The police saw it.”
“I know.”
“Then that is what matters.”
Maya shook her head.
“You grew up with money.
You don’t understand what people like your mother can do with a reputation.”
Ryan didn’t argue.
Because now he understood exactly enough to be terrified.
Detective Morris traced the initial upload.
It had not come from Evelyn’s phone.
It came from an account registered to a private security consultant named Martin Crowe.
Ryan recognized the name.
Crowe had worked for the Whitmore family for years.
“He handles security for my mother.”
Morris nodded.
“We’re trying to locate him.”
At 4:12 p.m., Crowe disappeared.
His apartment had been emptied.
His company car was abandoned near the interstate.
And his phone was turned off.
Ryan returned to the hospital with Maya.
Oliver was awake.
He reached for his mother.
“Mommy.”
Maya broke down.
She climbed into the hospital bed beside him and kissed his forehead.
“I’m here, baby.”
Oliver touched the bandage beneath her nose.
“Mommy hurt?”
“I’m okay.”
Ryan turned away, fighting tears.
Then Oliver whispered something.
“Grandma mad.”
Maya froze.
Ryan looked back.
“What did Grandma do?”
Oliver’s eyes moved toward the door.
“No spray.”
Ryan’s chest tightened.
“Grandma took your spray?”
Oliver nodded.
Then his face changed.
Like he remembered something.
“Grandma said Mommy go bye-bye.”
Maya closed her eyes.
Ryan felt rage rise through him.
Before he could speak, Detective Morris entered.
“We found Crowe.”
“Where?”
“In his car.”
Ryan stood.
“Is he alive?”
“Yes.
And he wants a lawyer.”
Morris paused.
“But before he asked for one, he said something interesting.”
Ryan waited.
“He said Evelyn wasn’t the person who hired him.”
Ryan frowned.
“Then who did?”
Morris looked straight at him.
“Someone inside Whitmore Holdings.”
Ryan’s heart stopped.
His family’s company employed more than eight hundred people.
May you like
And suddenly this was no longer just about Evelyn.
Someone else wanted Maya gone.
