Chapter 5
The girls had been filmed.
Ethan discovered that before eleven.
Not by security.
By Willa.
She pointed toward Vanessa’s phone when Thomas carried it into the sitting room.
“That one.”
Ethan crouched.
“What about it?”
“Vanessa makes us talk.”
Harper looked frightened.
Maisie hid beneath her blanket.
June whispered:
“No.”
Ethan placed the phone on the table.
“What does she make you say?”
Nobody answered.
He waited.
No pressure.
Finally Harper whispered:
“Daddy doesn’t come home.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“What else?”
“Mommy left.”
Willa added:
“Because we were bad.”
Maisie’s eyes filled.
“Vanessa loves us.”
Ethan looked at her.
Maisie immediately corrected herself.
“We have to say.”
There it was.
He opened Vanessa’s videos.
Dozens.
Most ordinary.
Christmas decorations.
Parties.
Charity events.
Then one hidden folder.
FOUR ANGELS.
Ethan opened it.
His daughters sat on a sofa.
Clean dresses.
Hair brushed.
A plate of cookies visible on the table.
Vanessa’s voice came from behind the camera.
“Who takes care of you?”
All four:
“Vanessa.”
“Who is always gone?”
Harper hesitated.
A hand entered the frame and removed the cookies.
Harper immediately answered:
“Daddy.”
Ethan stopped the video.
The room went silent.
Harper stared at the floor.
Ethan crouched.
“You did nothing wrong.”
She started crying.
Vanessa shouted from the hallway:
“Oh, please.”
Ethan stood.
She was under guard.
Still smiling.
“They wanted cookies.”
Her voice was dismissive.
“Children perform for treats.”
Ethan stared.
“You withheld food until they said what you wanted.”
Vanessa rolled her eyes.
“They ate.”
“When?”
“When they behaved.”
Harper flinched.
Vanessa saw.
“See?”
“She understands.”
Then crueler:
“You should learn from her, Ethan.”
“Even a three-year-old understands rewards and consequences.”
Thomas’s jaw tightened.
Ethan remained still.
Vanessa continued.
“Maybe if Claire had understood discipline, she wouldn’t have raised four little girls who cry every time someone says no.”
Harper covered her ears.
Ethan moved.
Vanessa’s smile weakened.
He stopped inches away.
“You will not use her mother again.”
Vanessa whispered:
“Or what?”
Ethan’s expression turned cold.
She backed up.
Then Grant laughed from the corridor.
“Still protecting the dead woman’s reputation.”
Ethan turned.
Grant continued.
“She’s gone.”
“Vanessa is the one who stayed.”
Ethan looked at him.
Grant smiled.
“And the girls learned who actually feeds them.”
Harper shouted:
“No!”
Everyone froze.
She pointed toward Vanessa.
“She says food is hers.”
Then:
“Uncle Grant says Daddy’s food is Victor’s now.”
Silence.
Grant’s face went white.
Ethan looked at him.
“Mine?”
Grant said nothing.
Harper continued.
“He says after Christmas Victor gives rooms.”
Victor appeared at the far end of the hallway.
His expression had changed.
Ethan slowly turned.
May you like
The midnight discussion was not merely about replacing Ethan.
Victor had already been promising pieces of Ethan’s world before the decision happened.
