Chapter 7 - The Tablet Reveal
The bright, high-definition images filled the tablet screen, projecting crisp audio into our quiet apartment. The video showed the exact angle of the Caldwell estate front steps on that fateful morning.
First came the audio of Victoria's voice shouting across the street: "There’s a temple downtown that shelters strays. Go there." Then, the camera panned slightly as the heavy front door swung open, showing me standing on the pavement with my broken suitcase, holding clumps of my own severed hair.
Ethan froze. The color drained entirely from his face, leaving him looking ghost-white. His hands began to tremble as he clutched the edges of the tablet.
"No," Ethan whispered, shaking his head in immediate denial. "No, this... this has to be manipulated. Fake audio. AI generation. Mom would never..."
"Would she?" I asked sharply, stepping closer. "Would the woman who spent two years criticizing my clothes, my accent, and my background—the woman who locked me in a guest bedroom and hacked off my childhood hair with kitchen scissors—stop at a little lying?"
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Ethan gasped, his eyes darting back to the screen as the video looped, replaying Victoria’s cruel, arrogant smirk.
"Scissors?" Ethan choked out, his voice cracking. "What do you mean, scissors?"
