Chapter 4
I didn’t plug the drive into my computer.
Daniel had warned me not to tamper with potential evidence.
So I called him.
Thirty minutes later, he was sitting at my kitchen table with Sarah while Rosie colored pictures in the next room.
“Tell me exactly where this came from,” Daniel said.
Sarah twisted her hands together.
“My dad.”
Uncle Patrick.
My mother’s younger brother.
“He helps Uncle Robert with the security system.”
Daniel nodded.
“And why did he copy the footage?”
“Because he didn’t trust him.”
“Why?”
Sarah looked at me.
“That’s complicated.”
My patience was disappearing.
“Sarah.”
She swallowed.
“Grandpa left money.”
I frowned.
“My grandfather?”
She nodded.
My maternal grandfather, Frank Dalton, had died six years earlier.
He had been wealthy.
Not mansion wealthy like my parents had become later.
But comfortable.
Very comfortable.
“I thought everything went to Mom and Patrick.”
“That’s what Aunt Diane told everyone.”
Sarah looked down.
“My dad says that wasn’t true.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“What was the actual distribution?”
Sarah shook her head.
“I don’t know all of it. Dad wouldn’t tell me.”
“Then why mention it now?”
“Because Aunt Diane and Uncle Robert were talking about Rosie.”
The room went silent.
My voice came out low.
“When?”
“Before the birthday.”
“How long before?”
“A few weeks.”
Sarah took a breath.
“They were in the study. Dad was fixing the camera monitor. They didn’t know he could hear them.”
My stomach tightened.
“What did they say?”
“They said Rosie had something that belonged to the family.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel’s expression sharpened.
“Could it be inheritance-related?”
Sarah nodded.
“That’s what Dad thinks.”
I stood.
For years, my parents had controlled everything.
Birthdays.
Holidays.
Money.
Family secrets.
If they knew something about Rosie’s inheritance, they would absolutely hide it until it benefited them.
Daniel took the flash drive.
“I’ll have this copied properly.”
“Can we watch it?”
“Not until we preserve it.”
I hated waiting.
But he was right.
The next afternoon, Daniel called me into his office.
Sarah came too.
Officer Daniels was already there.
So was a detective named Marcus Reed.
That told me whatever was on the drive mattered.
Detective Reed closed the blinds.
“We reviewed several recordings.”
My hands were damp.
“Is Rosie on them?”
“Yes.”
My chest tightened.
“We’re going to show you one section.”
The video appeared on a large monitor.
Timestamp: 6:41 p.m.
The night of the party.
The upstairs hallway.
Rosie entered the frame carrying Clover.
Bethany followed.
Even without audio at first, I could see her body language.
Aggressive.
Mocking.
She snatched the rabbit.
Rosie reached for it.
Bethany held it away.
Then she grabbed Rosie’s arms.
Hard.
Rosie struggled.
Bethany shook her.
Then the slap came.
I looked away.
I couldn’t watch twice.
“Keep going,” Detective Reed said quietly.
The video continued.
My mother entered the frame.
She had seen everything.
Rosie ran toward her.
My mother pointed toward the guest room.
The audio had no microphones, but Sarah’s account matched perfectly.
Bethany threw Clover onto a hallway table.
Rosie went into the room alone.
My mother and Bethany walked downstairs together.
I felt tears in my eyes.
Not because I was surprised.
Because somewhere inside me, a tiny part had still hoped my mother had misunderstood.
She hadn’t.
She had chosen.
Detective Reed stopped the video.
“There’s more.”
Another recording appeared.
This one was from three weeks earlier.
My parents’ study.
My mother sat across from my father.
Bethany stood near the desk.
The camera had audio.
My mother’s voice came through clearly.
“If Mark won’t cooperate, we use the trust.”
Bethany replied.
“He’ll never sign anything involving Rosie.”
My father laughed.
“He doesn’t have to if he’s declared unfit.”
My entire body went cold.
Daniel looked at me but said nothing.
The recording continued.
My mother opened a folder.
“Once she’s living here, we can petition.”
Bethany frowned.
“And then?”
“Then we manage her assets until she turns twenty-five.”
Assets.
Rosie was four.
“What assets?” I whispered.
Detective Reed didn’t answer yet.
Onscreen, my father leaned forward.
“It’s over two million now.”
I stopped breathing.
Two million dollars.
My mother smiled.
“That money should never have gone through Emily.”
Hearing my late wife’s name made me stand.
“What?”
Daniel raised a hand.
“Mark, keep listening.”
Emily.
My wife.
Rosie’s mother.
She had died from a brain aneurysm at thirty-two.
My parents had barely hidden their dislike for her.
They said she was too independent.
Too opinionated.
Too unwilling to let them interfere with Rosie.
My mother’s voice continued.
“Frank was manipulated at the end.”
Frank.
My grandfather.
My father said, “Doesn’t matter. Emily’s gone. The child is the only beneficiary left.”
I stared at the screen.
Everything shifted.
My grandfather had left money connected to Emily?
How?
Why?
Then Bethany spoke.
“What if Mark remarries?”
My mother’s expression hardened.
“Then we move faster.”
The recording ended.
Nobody spoke for several seconds.
Finally Daniel said, “Your grandfather created a trust.”
“For Rosie?”
“Originally for Emily and her descendants.”
I could barely process it.
“Why would Grandpa leave Emily anything?”
Sarah answered.
“Because she took care of him.”
And suddenly I remembered.
During my grandfather’s final year, Emily visited him twice a week.
She brought groceries.
Drove him to appointments.
Sat with him when my mother complained he was becoming “difficult.”
Emily never told me she expected anything.
She probably hadn’t known.
Daniel slid a document toward me.
“Your grandfather created a trust worth approximately $1.4 million at his death. With investments, it’s now slightly above $2.1 million.”
I stared at the paper.
“Why didn’t I know?”
“That’s part of the investigation.”
“Who was trustee?”
Daniel’s face tightened.
“Your mother.”
Of course.
“What happened to the money?”
“It’s still mostly there.”
“Mostly?”
“We’re auditing.”
That word terrified me.
Detective Reed leaned forward.
“Mark, what we now have is evidence suggesting your parents were discussing a plan to establish control over Rosie and her financial assets.”
I thought about the CPS report.
Grandparents’ rights.
My mother’s threats.
Rosie saying Grandma told her she might live there forever.
“They wanted me declared unfit.”
“Yes.”
“And Bethany hurting Rosie…”
Nobody finished that sentence.
We didn’t know whether it had been planned.
But suddenly the timing looked horrifying.
I whispered, “They were creating evidence.”
Daniel nodded carefully.
“Possibly.”
My hands shook.
My family wasn’t simply cruel.
They had been planning something.
Detective Reed started the next recording.
My father appeared alone in the study.
He opened the family safe.
Then he took out several folders.
One was labeled:
ROSALIE MARKS — TRUST.
He removed documents.
Then another person entered the room.
Bethany.
She closed the door.
May you like
And what she said next made everyone in that office go completely still.
“Mom said the first report wasn’t enough. We need Mark to lose his temper again.”
