Chapter 17 - The Woman Who Screamed
Victoria claimed she had no idea I was beneath the dining room.
Her scream looked genuine on the body-camera footage.
That had protected her from suspicion.
Bank records revealed she purchased the industrial furnace used to destroy the women’s bodies.
She also managed the rehabilitation facilities where Amelia and the others were held.
The scream had not been shock.
It had been recognition.
She knew the basement should have been empty before the guests arrived.
When she saw me alive, she realized the plan had failed.
Victoria used Lionel’s legal files to escape the country.
Investigators traced her vessel toward Portugal.
Then it vanished from marine tracking.
Richard was likely with her.
Owen wanted me to enter witness protection.
I refused to change Hope’s name.
I refused to spend years pretending the Hale family still controlled where we lived.
Instead, Bennett Agricultural funded a private security program approved by federal investigators.
Natalie moved into the main house with us.
Amelia stayed in a guest cottage while rebuilding her legal identity.
The arrangement was temporary.
None of us knew what permanent looked like yet.
Marcus’s trial began seven months after Hope’s birth.
The prosecution presented the cage.
Not a photograph.
The entire welded structure had been removed from the basement and reconstructed inside the courtroom evidence room.
Jurors walked past the bars.
They saw the loose floor panel.
The rotten food tray.
The stains beneath the metal.
They listened to Marcus say the baby’s movement entertained him.
They heard Evelyn calculate how long I could survive.
They heard Dr. Wallace discuss the death certificate.
The defense argued Marcus had suffered years of psychological control from Richard.
Amelia testified next.
“So did I,” she said.
“I did not imprison anyone.”
The sentence destroyed his excuse.
Control explained his development.
It did not erase his decisions.
Then Marcus took the stand.
His attorney expected regret.
Marcus gave the jury resentment.
“I gave Claire everything.”
“A house.”
“A name.”
“Protection.”
The prosecutor asked what I gave him.
May you like
He answered without hesitation.
“Access.”
