Chapter 6 - The Unblinking Eye
The massive screen flickered to life.
It was not a family slideshow. It was high-definition security camera footage, displayed in split-screen format across sixteen separate angles.
Victoria gasped, taking an involuntary step backward. “You... you put cameras in the house? That’s an invasion of privacy! That’s illegal!”
“This house belongs to Emma’s trust, Victoria,” David said, his voice terrifyingly steady. “You own nothing here. Not a brick. Not a piece of silverware. Not the air you breathe.”
David pressed a button. The footage fast-forwarded to two days prior. The screen showed the second-floor landing. Victoria could be seen crouching down, aggressively hissing into Chloe’s ear, then deliberately taking a makeup brush and blending purple and black pigment onto Chloe’s knee. The camera captured Victoria’s voice in crystal-clear audio: *“When your father calls, you tell him Emma kicked you. If you don’t, I’m throwing away all your ponies. Do you hear me?”*
The screen shifted to that very afternoon, two hours before the party.
The footage showed Victoria standing in the kitchen, Emma cornered against the pantry door. The camera picked up every vicious word: *“Look at you. Wearing a dead woman’s dress. You think your daddy is coming? He hates you.”*
Chloe started to cry, sinking to the floor. Victoria stood paralyzed, her face drained of every ounce of arrogance.
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“I didn't just come from Germany, Victoria,” David said, gesturing to the red folder on the table. “I had a three-hour layover in Boston. I spent it with the senior partners at Sullivan & Cromwell. They’ve been monitoring your financial activity for six months.”
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