Chapter 1 - The Evidence Sleeping in the DarkI picked up the black phone. The cracked screen was dull under the hallway light. When my thumb pressed and held the power button, a small line of text appeared before fading in: Battery Low. It was still alive.
The moment Kate saw the faint glow illuminate my face, her confident expression vanished, replaced by utter panic. The old phone logo booted up—this was the exact device Emily used to connect to the baby monitor system back when Owen was an infant. That system didn't upload to the cloud; it saved directly to an internal SD card inside the device.
"Give that to me!" Kate screamed, completely losing her usual polished demeanor.
She lunged forward, but the tall security guard stepped in, locking her arms behind her back. Kate thritted wildly like a trapped animal, her eyes wide with desperation.
"You can't use these baseless accusations!" Kate hissed through her teeth. "I sacrificed my career, my life, to stay here and take care of your children! You are a terrible father who only cares about work!"
I looked straight into Kate's eyes, my voice cold as ice: "Your sacrifice ends this very second."
I turned around and knelt on one knee in front of Lily. I took her small, frail hands into my trembling, cold palms.
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"Lily," I said softly, my voice shaking. "I’m so sorry. Daddy came too late. But from now on... no one in this world will ever hurt you two again."
Lily looked at me, and the tears she had held back for so long finally broke free. She buried her face into my shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably.
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