Chapter 10 - THE VIDEO
Henrique didn’t deny it.
That terrified Samara more than Laura’s accusation.
“What video?” she asked.
Henrique looked sick.
“I don’t know.”
Laura laughed.
“Yes, you do.”
Police separated everyone.
Caio sat beside Samara while Henrique’s attorney arrived.
Laura unlocked her phone and handed it to an officer.
A video played.
Three years earlier.
Henrique sat in his office during a video conference with Dr. Brandão.
Brandão was describing “intensive behavioral stabilization.”
Henrique looked exhausted.
On the recording, he said:
“Do whatever you need to do. I just need this situation under control.”
Samara’s stomach dropped.
Laura folded her arms.
“There.”
Henrique watched himself.
He looked destroyed.
“I didn’t know he meant restraints.”
“But you didn’t ask,” Samara said.
Henrique closed his eyes.
“No.”
She hated the disappointment she felt.
Not because Henrique was perfect.
He clearly wasn’t.
Because for several days, she had begun believing he wanted to become better.
Maybe wanting wasn’t enough.
Laura leaned closer to Samara.
“You see? He’s not different from me.”
Samara looked at her.
“Yes, he is.”
Laura smirked.
“He just admitted it.”
“That’s the difference.”
Laura’s smile faded.
Samara pointed toward Henrique.
“He looks ashamed.”
Then she pointed at Laura.
“You look proud.”
Henrique heard her.
He looked up.
Something settled inside him.
No more excuses.
No more lawyers pretending words meant something different.
He asked the officer to replay the video.
Then he spoke clearly.
“That’s me.”
His attorney grabbed his arm.
“Henrique.”
He pulled away.
“I said that.”
Laura stared.
Henrique continued.
“I was negligent.”
“Stop talking,” his attorney whispered.
“I trusted people because trusting them was easier than being a father.”
His voice shook.
“I funded a system I didn’t understand.”
He looked at Caio.
“And my son paid the price.”
The room went silent.
Laura’s confidence faltered.
Henrique turned to the police.
“I will provide complete access to the foundation’s records.”
His attorney looked horrified.
“Henrique, do not—”
“All of them.”
Laura snapped.
“You’ll destroy yourself.”
Henrique looked at her.
“Maybe parts of me should be destroyed.”
Samara felt something tighten in her chest.
Laura suddenly grabbed her purse.
An officer stopped her.
“Ma’am.”
“I’m leaving.”
“Not yet.”
Her phone buzzed on the table.
A preview appeared across the screen.
EDUARDO: DELETE SERVER 4 BEFORE 6 PM.
Henrique saw it.
So did Samara.
Laura lunged for the phone.
The officer grabbed it first.
Henrique’s eyes narrowed.
“Server four?”
Laura went completely still.
Samara remembered Daniel’s case.
Missing security footage.
Lost restraint reports.
Complaints that had supposedly never been filed.
She looked at Henrique.
“If that server contains Halcyon’s original files…”
He finished the sentence.
“It can prove everything.”
Then Henrique checked the time.
May you like
5:17 PM.
They had forty-three minutes.
