Chapter 2: What the Camera Saw
The stepmother didn't move.
She stood perfectly still among the shattered dishes and ruined food, and then — slowly — her expression shifted.
The panic drained away.
Something colder replaced it.
She smoothed the front of her dress with both hands and lifted her chin.
*"Darling, you need to calm down.
She fell.
I was going to take her to the doctor tomorrow."*
The little girl's body went rigid.
She buried her face deeper into her father's chest.
*"She's lying, Daddy.
She's lying."*
His jaw tightened.
*"Fell.
My daughter fell."* He said the words slowly, like he was testing how they sounded.
Like he already knew they were poison.
Then the young blonde girl spoke from the corner of the room.
*"Mama, just show him the video."*
The room went completely silent.
The stepmother's head snapped toward her daughter so fast it looked like a warning.
But it was too late.
The father's voice dropped to almost nothing.
*"What video?"*
The little girl in his arms slowly lifted her head.
Her swollen eyes moved from the blonde girl to the stepmother.
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And for the first time, something beyond fear crossed her face.
She knew exactly what was on that video.
