Chapter 2 - Emma Had Been Warning Me
I took Lily from Emma.
Then I apologized.
Not because one sentence could repair what I had done.
But because it needed to be said immediately.
“Emma… I’m sorry.”
Her eyes filled.
“You should be.”
I nodded.
“I know.”
Vanessa stared at me.
“You’re believing a six-year-old over your wife?”
I looked at Sophie.
“No. I’m believing what I’m about to see.”
We moved into the living room.
Sophie handed me the phone.
Before I played anything, Emma said:
“Daniel, there’s something you need to know.”
I looked at her.
“I tried to tell you.”
My stomach tightened.
“When?”
“Three times.”
I remembered.
Emma had mentioned Vanessa being “too rough” with the girls.
Once after Lily developed a bruise on her leg.
Once when Sophie stopped eating dinner.
Once when Emma asked whether she could stay overnight during one of my work trips.
Each time Vanessa explained it away.
Emma was overprotective.
Sophie was dramatic.
Lily bruised easily.
And I had believed my wife.
Emma continued.
“Every time I brought something up, Vanessa told you I was trying to turn you against her.”
She was right.
Vanessa had said exactly that.
I looked at her.
“You told me Emma hated you.”
“She does.”
Emma laughed bitterly.
“No. I was afraid of you.”
Vanessa crossed her arms.
“This is ridiculous.”
Sophie moved closer to me.
Then she whispered:
“Dad… she made me delete videos before.”
I looked down.
“What videos?”
Sophie swallowed.
“Things she did when you weren't home.”
Vanessa snapped:
“She is making this up.”
Sophie flinched.
That reaction told me more than Vanessa’s words.
I crouched.
“You’re safe.”
Sophie looked at the phone.
“I hid this one.”
“How?”
“In my dollhouse.”
Vanessa’s eyes flickered.
She had searched Sophie’s room two days earlier.
She told me she was looking for missing jewelry.
Now I understood why.
The phone had not always been Sophie's.
It was an old device I let her use for games and photos.
No active service.
No reason for Vanessa to care about it.
Unless Sophie had turned it into evidence.
I pressed play.
The first few seconds showed the top of the staircase.
Vanessa.
The stroller.
Lily inside it.
Then Vanessa looked around.
Placed both hands on the handle.
And shoved.
Hard.
No stumble.
No accident.
No hesitation.
I stopped the video.
Vanessa’s voice shook.
“It looks worse than it was.”
I stared at her.
“You pushed my baby down a staircase.”
She backed away.
May you like
Then Emma said something that made the room colder.
“This isn’t the first time she tried to blame me.”
