Chapter 12 - The Second Phone
Rebecca obtained a court order preventing destruction of devices tied to the financial case.
The asset custodian entered the greenhouse office.
The phone was gone.
Nobody was surprised.
The security system showed Victoria entering the greenhouse at 5:02 that morning.
Leaving four minutes later.
She carried nothing visible.
Rebecca requested her phone records.
Victoria responded through her newly hired lawyer.
She denied possessing any second device.
Brooke gave a sworn statement saying otherwise.
The family finally fractured.
Victoria called Brooke a liar.
Brooke accused Victoria of manipulating her since childhood.
Nathan refused to speak to either of them without counsel.
And I focused on Ethan.
His nightmares were becoming less frequent.
He still checked door locks twice.
But now he asked me to leave his bedroom door slightly open.
That was progress.
One evening, he sat at the kitchen table drawing while I answered emails.
“Mom?”
“Yes?”
“Are we poor now?”
I looked up.
“Why would you think that?”
“Grandma said you were selling everything because you ruined us.”
I put my laptop aside.
“No, sweetheart.”
“Are you selling the house?”
“Yes.”
His face tightened.
“Because of me?”
“No.”
I moved beside him.
“I'm selling it because a house where you were made to feel unsafe isn't a home I want to keep.”
He looked at his drawing.
“What if Dad says sorry?”
The question hurt.
“Then he should mean it.”
“Do we go back?”
“No.”
Ethan thought about that.
Then he nodded.
Children sometimes understand boundaries faster than adults.
The next morning, Michael called.
Olivia remembered something.
Victoria had once given her an old phone to play games on during a flight.
Olivia had connected it to her tablet.
The phone might have synced data.
We brought the tablet to a forensic technician.
Hours later, he recovered fragments.
Messages.
Photographs.
Voice notes.
Most were ordinary.
Some were not.
One voice memo contained Victoria speaking to Nathan.
Her tone was unmistakable.
“Once Claire signs the restructuring documents, the trust becomes manageable.”
Nathan answered.
“She isn't going to sign.”
“She signs everything you put in front of her.”
My stomach twisted.
Nathan continued.
“And Ethan?”
Victoria responded.
“We establish instability.”
The room became silent.
The recording continued.
Nathan sounded uneasy.
“He's a child.”
“Children become adults.”
“You're talking about my son.”
“I'm talking about protecting your future.”
Then Nathan said the sentence that finished whatever remained of our marriage.
“What if Claire catches on?”
Victoria answered.
“She won't.”
Nathan laughed softly.
Not happily.
Nervously.
But he laughed.
Then he said.
“And if she does?”
Victoria's response was quiet.
“That is why you have insurance.”
The recording ended.
Nobody moved.
Rebecca stared at the technician.
“Preserve that.”
He nodded.
I stood.
May you like
I walked to the bathroom.
And I was sick.
