Chapter 10 - The Second Video
Emily left one more video.
We almost missed it.
The file had been hidden inside a folder labeled TAX RECEIPTS.
Typical Emily.
She knew anyone searching quickly would ignore it.
The recording was made after Noah’s birth.
She looked exhausted.
Her hair was tied back.
No makeup.
No performance.
Just Emily.
“Noah is perfect.”
She smiled.
I cried before she said another word.
“He has Daniel’s stubborn little frown.”
Elena quietly left the room.
I watched alone.
Emily explained what happened at Riverside.
Halpern pressured her to agree to induction.
Mother claimed I had authorized it.
Emily knew that was impossible.
She demanded her phone.
They refused.
That was when she realized she was effectively trapped.
But a nurse helped her.
Nurse Rachel Kim.
Rachel secretly gave Emily access to a tablet.
Emily uploaded everything she had collected.
Then she recorded the message.
“If I get out of here, I’m taking Noah and leaving the estate until Daniel comes home.”
Her expression hardened.
“I don’t care about the money.”
“I care that these people think they can decide what happens to my family.”
Then she looked directly at the camera.
“Daniel, if I don’t get the chance to tell you this myself, your mother is not the person you think she is.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I know that will hurt.”
“But truth hurts once.”
“A lie hurts every day you keep living inside it.”
I replayed that sentence three times.
Then the video continued.
“There is one person who tried to help me.”
“Rachel.”
“Find her.”
Investigators located Rachel that afternoon.
She had resigned from Riverside two days after Emily’s delivery.
She had been afraid.
But when she learned Emily was dead, she agreed to testify.
Rachel confirmed everything.
False admission name.
Unnecessary induction.
Restricted phone access.
Mother controlling visitors.
Halpern ignoring Emily’s objections.
And one final detail.
Emily had begged Rachel not to let Mother leave alone with Noah.
“Why?”
I asked.
Rachel looked uncomfortable.
“Because Mrs. Mercer kept saying something strange.”
“What?”
“She kept calling Noah her second chance.”
I didn’t understand.
Rachel did.
“She said the first son disappointed her.”
“But this one could be raised correctly.”
My blood turned cold.
Mother hadn’t simply wanted money.
She wanted Noah.
And if Emily had disappeared without questions...
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I was deployed.
Mother would have controlled my son completely.
