Chapter 2: The Recording She Tried to Erase
Daddy carried me downstairs instead of letting me walk.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, listening to the steady beat of his heart. He smelled like his usual aftershave, the one Mommy used to buy him for Christmas.
For a moment, I felt safe again.
Then I saw Vanessa following us.
She had set down her champagne and was smoothing the front of her emerald-green dress as if she were preparing to address a room full of reporters.
“Marcus, we need to discuss this privately,” she said.
Daddy stopped at the bottom of the stairs.
“No. We don't.””
Guests stood in little groups around the living room, pretending not to listen. My father's birthday cake sat on a table beneath a gold banner. Eight candles would have looked prettier than the three large number candles on the cake, I thought.
Then I remembered that the cake wasn't for me.
Nothing tonight was for me.
Daddy turned to Daniel.
“Can you retrieve the recording?””
Daniel nodded.
“I'm trying. Whoever accessed the system used your wife's credentials. The deletion command was issued at 6:42 p.m.””
Vanessa gave a brittle laugh.
“That proves nothing. I was checking the cameras because I thought someone had entered the house.””
“Which camera?”” Daddy asked.
“The front entrance.””
Daniel tapped his tablet.
“That's strange. The deletion request targeted the upstairs hallway.””
Vanessa's mouth opened, then closed.
I rested my head against Daddy's shoulder.
“Daddy,” I whispered, “she told me you didn't want me downstairs.””
His expression changed.
He lowered his face toward mine.
“Did she say that?””
I nodded.
“She said you had important people to worry about, not me.””
A murmur spread through the room.
Vanessa took a step forward.
“She misunderstood me.””
Daddy shifted me to his other arm.
“She understood enough to be frightened in her own home.””
“Marcus, she's a child. Children misunderstand things all the time.””
“And adults lie all the time,” Daniel said quietly.
Vanessa turned on him.
“This is none of your business.””
Daniel didn't flinch.
“I'm the one who installed the system. If somebody tries to destroy evidence from a company-owned security network, it becomes my business.””
Daddy looked at the tablet.
“Can you recover it?””
“I think so. Give me a minute.””
Daniel connected his tablet to a small laptop on a side table. The screen filled with lines of text. A progress bar appeared.
Vanessa watched it as if it were a countdown.
Then she did something I would remember for the rest of my life.
She walked toward the laptop.
“That's enough,” she said, reaching for it.
Daniel pulled it away.
“Don't touch that.””
“I said turn it off!””
Her voice rang through the living room.
Every guest fell silent.
Daddy stared at her.
“Why are you so desperate to stop him?””
Vanessa's expression softened instantly. She placed a hand against her chest.
“Because you're letting a technical misunderstanding ruin your birthday. I made a mistake, all right? I shouldn't have locked her door. But I was overwhelmed.””
Daddy's eyes narrowed.
“You said the handle was broken.””
“I panicked.””
“You said she was sick.””
“I was trying to avoid a scene.””
“You told me she refused to behave.””
Vanessa looked at me.
“Amara, sweetheart, tell your father you were upset. Tell him you were crying because you wanted attention.””
I buried my face in Daddy's shoulder.
He turned away from her.
“Don't speak to her.””
“Marcus, you're making me sound like a monster!””
“No,” he replied.
“I'm asking why you're afraid of a video.””
The progress bar reached ninety percent.
Daniel leaned closer to the screen.
“Got it.””
He opened the recovered footage.
The video showed the upstairs hallway from a fixed angle. The timestamp read 6:31 p.m.
I appeared on the screen wearing my pink dress, holding a small white gift bag. I was smiling.
Then Vanessa entered the frame.
Even without sound, everyone could see what happened.
She grabbed my arm.
I stumbled.
She dragged me toward my bedroom.
I tried to pull away.
She shoved me inside.
Then she looked directly at the camera.
Vanessa stood on the screen for several seconds, her face tilted upward.
She raised her hand and pointed at the lens.
Then she smiled.
A few moments later, she returned with a small step stool. She climbed onto it, removed the camera's memory cover, and pressed something inside.
Daniel paused the video.
“That explains the attempted deletion,” he said.
Daddy's jaw tightened.
“Play the audio.””
Daniel turned up the volume.
Vanessa's voice filled the living room.
“Stay in there. Nobody wants to hear you crying tonight.””
Then came the sound of the lock.
A second later, her voice returned.
“Let's see who can save you now.””
Someone near the fireplace gasped.
Vanessa shook her head.
“That isn't the whole story.””
Daniel continued playing.
The recording showed Vanessa walking downstairs, adjusting her hair, and greeting guests with a bright smile.
“Welcome!”” she said on the video.
“Marcus is just getting ready. Please make yourselves comfortable.””
The contrast was sickening.
Upstairs, a little girl was trapped behind a locked door.
Downstairs, the woman who trapped her was welcoming guests.
Daddy closed his eyes for a moment.
When he opened them, he looked at Vanessa.
“Were you planning to leave her up there all night?””
“No!””
“Then why did you lock the door?””
“Because she wouldn't listen!””
I lifted my head.
“I was listening,” I whispered.
“I only asked if I could bring you your present.””
The room went silent again.
Daddy looked down at me.
“Your present?””
I nodded and pointed toward the staircase.
“I left it in my bedroom. I wanted to give it to you before the cake.””
His eyes filled with tears.
He kissed my forehead.
“It's all right, sweetheart.””
Then Daniel cleared his throat.
“Marcus, there's something else.””
Daddy turned.
“What now?””
“The footage doesn't end when Vanessa leaves the hallway.””
Daniel dragged the timeline forward.
At 6:48 p.m., Vanessa returned to my bedroom door.
She glanced both ways, then leaned close to the lock.
Her voice was quiet, but the microphone caught every word.
“Your father will never believe you over me,” she whispered.
Daddy's face went white.
On the recording, Vanessa slipped a folded piece of paper beneath my door.
Then she walked away.
Daniel paused the video.
“What was on that paper?”” he asked.
I began to tremble.
Daddy held me closer.
“Amara?””
I looked at the screen.
“I didn't know what it meant,” I whispered.
“But she told me if I showed it to you, you'd send me away.””
Vanessa lunged toward me.
“That's enough!””
Daddy stepped between us.
“Don't you dare come near my daughter.””
For a moment, Vanessa looked as if she might strike him.
Then she glanced at the guests, forced a laugh, and straightened her dress.
“This is ridiculous. You're all behaving as if I've committed some terrible crime.””
Daniel rewound the footage and zoomed in on the paper.
A handwritten sentence was visible through the fold.
Daddy read it once.
Then again.
His fingers began to shake.
Because the note wasn't a threat about the party.
It was a warning about something Vanessa had been hiding from him for months.
May you like
And when Daddy finally spoke, his voice sounded like it belonged to someone else.
“Vanessa,” he said, “why did you write that my daughter must never find out who her real father is?””
