Chapter 2 - Delete Everything
I ran downstairs.
Chloe was gone.
The broken mop lay beside the wall.
The front door stood open.
“Stay with Mom.”
I handed my phone to Maya and ran outside.
Chloe was already backing her SUV out of the driveway.
I slapped my palm against the hood.
She slammed on the brakes.
For one second, we stared at each other through the windshield.
Then she rolled down the window.
“You’re making the biggest mistake of your life.”
“You assaulted Maya.”
“She attacked me.”
“I watched you swing a metal mop handle.”
“You saw five seconds.”
“I saw my mother covered in bruises.”
Something changed in Chloe’s face.
The sweetness disappeared.
The wife I knew vanished.
“You have no idea what your mother has been doing behind your back.”
“Then tell me.”
“She is destroying our life.”
“My mother can barely walk without help.”
“That doesn’t make her innocent.”
I heard tires behind me.
A black sedan had stopped across the street.
The driver never got out.
Chloe looked at it.
Then at me.
That was enough.
“Is Caleb Voss in that car?”
Her jaw tightened.
I stepped toward the vehicle.
The sedan immediately pulled away.
Chloe accelerated before I could turn back.
I moved aside rather than let her hit me.
Her SUV disappeared around the corner.
Inside, Maya had helped Mom onto the couch.
I disconnected our security system from the internet before anyone could erase more footage.
Then I copied every archived recording onto two external drives.
Maya watched silently.
“How long?”
She looked at Mom.
“About four months.”
My hands stopped.
“Four months?”
“Your mother begged me not to tell you.”
I looked at Mom.
“Why?”
Tears filled her eyes.
“Because Chloe said you’d choose your wife.”
The words hit harder than the mop ever could have.
“Mom.”
“She said if I caused trouble, she’d tell you I was confused.”
My mother looked down at her bruised hands.
“She said she’d already started building proof.”
Maya sat beside her.
“She controlled Mrs. Whitmore’s meals whenever you traveled.”
“What do you mean controlled?”
“Sometimes one sandwich in twenty-four hours.”
I felt sick.
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“I tried.”
Maya pulled out her phone.
“Your number was blocked from mine.”
I checked.
She was right.
Someone had blocked Maya on my phone three months earlier.
Then Maya showed me the prepaid phone from the sewing box.
“Your mother used this to record them.”
I powered it on.
There were seven audio files.
The newest was dated three nights earlier.
I pressed play.
Chloe’s voice filled the room.
“Sign the guardianship consent, Helen.”
My mother answered weakly.
“No.”
Then Caleb spoke.
“Mrs. Whitmore, if you continue resisting, we can make this much more unpleasant.”
A chair scraped.
Chloe spoke again.
“Once Ethan believes she has dementia, he’ll sign anything I put in front of him.”
I stopped breathing.
Then Caleb said something that made Maya cover her mouth.
“We don’t need Ethan’s signature after Friday.”
I checked the calendar.
May you like
Today was Thursday.
*
