Chapter 12 - Nicole’s Phone
Nicole reached into her purse and lifted her phone.
Madeline’s eyes fixed on it.
“The entire living room was recorded,” Nicole said.
She had started filming when Luke carried out the cobbler because he wanted a video of Madeline tasting the dessert he made.
The recording captured everything.
Madeline drawing back her leg.
The plate flying.
Luke falling.
Her cruel statements.
And her complete lack of concern when he struggled to breathe.
Brandon watched the clip once.
Then he forwarded it to their attorney.
Madeline reached for the phone.
Nicole pulled it away.
“Don’t touch me.”
“You’re twisting a private family moment.”
“You assaulted a child in front of twenty witnesses.”
“I touched a plate.”
“You knew what would happen.”
Madeline looked around the waiting area.
Several relatives from the party had followed them to the hospital.
Not one defended her.
Aunt Rebecca spoke first.
“I saw you aim.”
Then cousin Amy said, “You smiled afterward.”
Madeline’s breathing grew shallow.
“You’re all choosing that woman over me.”
Nicole did not raise her voice.
“We’re choosing Luke.”
The cardiologist entered and asked to speak with Brandon and Nicole privately.
Luke’s condition was treatable, but serious.
Elias’s records had allowed the medical team to recognize the likely pattern quickly and avoid medication that could have worsened it.
Madeline had known enough to warn them.
Instead, she had remained silent for four years.
When Brandon returned to the hallway, he looked at his mother with a calmness that frightened her more than rage.
“You almost cost him his life.”
Madeline tightened her grip on the leather folder.
“You still don’t know whether he is yours.”
Brandon stepped close.
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“He is my son. But now I want to know why you are so desperate to make him disappear.”
👉 The answer was hidden inside the original family trust—and Madeline had forged one crucial page.
