Chapter 2: The Perfect Mother
Victoria lunged for Nathan’s phone.
He stepped back before she could reach it.
“You are not calling the police,” she hissed.
“They’re already coming.”
“You’ll destroy this family.”
Nathan stared at her.
“This family was already being destroyed. I was simply too blind to see it.”
Victoria pointed at the children.
“They’ll lie. They always lie when they want attention.”
Oliver’s fingers tightened around Nathan’s sleeve.
Nathan noticed the boy staring at the basement camera.
“Does that record sound?” Nathan asked.
Victoria said nothing.
“Oliver?”
The boy nodded.
“Mom watched us from upstairs.”
Nathan felt sick.
The camera was not there for security.
It had allowed Victoria to monitor the children while they were imprisoned below the house.
Nathan called the head of estate security.
“Mr. Harrington?” a startled voice answered.
“Daniel, preserve every recording connected to the basement camera. Make three encrypted copies. Send one directly to my attorney and one to the police when they arrive.”
Victoria crossed the room and slapped the phone from his hand.
It struck the floor.
The children screamed.
Nathan stepped between her and them.
“Do not move.”
“You think you can threaten me?” Victoria snapped. “Do you have any idea what will happen when this becomes public? Your stock will collapse. Every newspaper in the country will print photographs of this house.”
Nathan barely recognized the woman standing before him.
Only hours earlier, he had pictured her asleep in their bedroom, waiting to welcome him home in the morning.
Now he saw the calculation in her eyes.
Even with her children trembling behind him, she was thinking about headlines.
Sirens sounded beyond the mansion gates.
Victoria heard them.
Her expression changed again.
The cold anger disappeared.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Nathan,” she whispered. “Please.”
He said nothing.
She approached carefully.
“I made mistakes.”
“Mistakes?”
“I was overwhelmed. You traveled constantly. The children were difficult. Everyone expected me to be flawless.”
She touched his arm.
He moved away.
“I can get help,” she continued. “We can handle this privately. A clinic in Switzerland. A statement about exhaustion. No one needs to know.”
Oliver spoke from behind Nathan.
“She always says that.”
Nathan turned.
The boy looked at the floor.
“She says no one will believe us because everyone loves her.”
Victoria’s tears disappeared instantly.
“You ungrateful little—”
Nathan stepped forward.
Victoria stopped.
“If you say one more word to him,” Nathan said, “I will have security remove you before the police reach this room.”
Footsteps thundered down the staircase.
Two estate guards appeared first. Behind them came four police officers and a female detective in a dark coat.
The detective surveyed the room.
Her gaze stopped on the mattresses, the notebook and the three barefoot children.
“I’m Detective Lena Morales,” she said. “Who called?”
“I did,” Nathan replied.
Victoria began crying again.
“My husband is confused. He came home unexpectedly and misunderstood a private family matter.”
Detective Morales looked at the riding crop on the floor.
“A private family matter?”
Victoria placed a trembling hand over her mouth.
“I would never hurt my children.”
Noah lifted his head.
His voice was barely audible.
“She said Daddy would hate us if we told.”
The room went silent.
Nathan closed his eyes.
Detective Morales crouched several feet from Noah.
“Your daddy is right here,” she said gently. “And he doesn’t look like he hates you.”
Noah turned toward Nathan.
Nathan knelt and held out his hand.
“Never,” Nathan whispered. “I could never hate you.”
Noah took his hand.
Detective Morales stood.
“Mrs. Harrington, step away from the children.”
Victoria stared at Nathan.
“You’re choosing them over me?”
Nathan looked at his wife of twelve years.
“They are our children.”
“That is not what I asked.”
“No,” Nathan said. “It isn’t.”
The detective signaled to an officer.
As Victoria was escorted toward the staircase, she twisted around.
“You don’t know what they are capable of!”
Nathan held his children closer.
May you like
Behind Victoria, the basement camera continued blinking.
It had captured every word.
