Chapter 3 - What the Cameras Saw
Patricia was banned from the estate before sunset.
Ethan could have ended it there.
He didn’t.
Men survived in his world because they investigated what others dismissed.
That evening, he called his security chief.
“Pull every interior camera recording involving Patricia for the last ninety days.”
“All of them?”
“All.”
By midnight, Ethan was sitting inside the security room with Clara and his chief of security, Raymond Cole.
Clara looked uncomfortable.
“I don’t think I should be here.”
“You should.”
“Why?”
“Because if something concerns my daughters, apparently you’re the person most likely to understand what I’m looking at.”
Clara said nothing.
Raymond started the first recording.
Patricia stood in the upstairs hallway talking to Mrs. Nolan.
No sound.
Then another clip.
Patricia entered Sophie’s bedroom.
Another.
She removed the blue night-light.
Clara leaned forward.
“Stop.”
Raymond paused.
Ethan looked at her.
“What?”
“That lamp.”
“What about it?”
“Sophie doesn’t sleep without it.”
Ethan stared at the screen.
The next recording showed Sophie entering her room later.
She immediately began crying.
Patricia appeared behind her.
The audio activated.
“You’re too old for this nonsense.”
Sophie shook her head.
“I want Clara.”
“No.”
“My blue light—”
“Clara won’t always be here.”
Ethan’s face hardened.
Patricia crouched.
“If you want Daddy to be proud of you, you need to stop acting like a baby.”
Clara looked away.
“Keep playing,” Ethan said.
The footage continued.
Sophie cried harder.
Patricia eventually left her alone.
Thirty-seven minutes later, Clara entered.
She sat on the floor beside Sophie.
No lecture.
No demands.
Just:
“I’m right here.”
Sophie crawled into her lap.
Ethan stared at the screen.
Raymond played another recording.
Patricia speaking to Avery.
“Clara might leave someday.”
“Why?”
“People leave.”
“Mommy left.”
Patricia paused.
“Exactly.”
Clara stood abruptly.
“Turn it off.”
Raymond stopped the recording.
Ethan didn’t move.
Clara faced him.
“She used Madeline’s death to frighten Avery.”
“I heard.”
“Do you understand what that does to a child who already thinks everyone disappears?”
“I heard you.”
“No.”
Clara’s voice shook.
“You listened. I’m asking if you understand.”
Raymond quietly left the room.
Ethan looked at Clara.
“No.”
The answer surprised her.
“No,” he repeated. “I don’t understand.”
He looked at the frozen image of Avery.
“That’s the problem.”
Clara’s anger softened.
Ethan rubbed his jaw.
“I kept thinking money could solve this.”
“It can help.”
“I hired the best people.”
“Yes.”
“I gave them everything.”
“No.”
Ethan looked at her.
Clara hesitated.
“You gave them everything except yourself.”
The words should have angered him.
Instead, they felt deserved.
“How bad is it?”
“Avery thinks people she loves leave because she’s difficult.”
Ethan swallowed.
“And Sophie?”
“She thinks being scared disappoints you.”
“Why?”
“Because nobody ever told her otherwise.”
Ethan looked down.
Clara stepped closer.
“You don’t need to understand everything they feel.”
“Then what do I do?”
“Stay.”
“That’s it?”
“Tonight?”
Clara nodded.
May you like
“That’s enough.”
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