Chapter 2 - The Camera Sophia Forgot
Nobody moved.
Michael stared at Sophia.
“Why did you stop crying?”
She immediately grabbed her shoulder again.
“I’m in shock.”
Emily let out a broken laugh.
Michael looked at her.
The red mark from his hand was still visible across her cheek.
His expression flickered.
Guilt.
But not enough.
Not yet.
“Sophia says you pushed her.”
“And I'm telling you she pushed me.”
Sophia shook her head.
“She’s lying.”
Emily stared at her husband.
“Then check the camera.”
Silence.
Sophia stepped forward.
“That thing hasn't worked in months.”
Mason spoke from the stairs.
“Yes, it does.”
Sophia looked at him sharply.
The boy flinched.
Emily noticed.
So did Michael.
“Mason?”
The child hesitated.
“Aunt Sophia told me never to touch it.”
Sophia laughed nervously.
“Because it's expensive.”
Mason shook his head.
“You said Dad couldn't see what happened if I unplugged it.”
Michael's face changed.
Sophia went still.
“When did she tell you that?”
Mason looked frightened.
“Yesterday.”
Emily's stomach tightened.
Yesterday?
This hadn't been spontaneous.
Sophia had thought about the camera before the staircase incident.
Michael finally reached for his phone.
Sophia grabbed his wrist.
“Don't.”
He looked down at her hand.
Then slowly back at her.
“Why?”
“I don't want Mason dragged into this.”
Mason whispered:
“I already saw it.”
Sophia released Michael.
Emily watched her carefully.
The confidence was gone.
Michael opened the security application.
Then stopped.
The recording system required an administrator password.
He entered his usual password.
Rejected.
Again.
Rejected.
Michael frowned.
“I didn't change this.”
Sophia backed toward the hallway.
Emily noticed.
“Did you?”
Sophia shook her head.
“No.”
Michael tried password recovery.
The account email appeared partially masked.
It wasn't his email.
It wasn't Emily's.
Michael slowly read the visible characters.
Then looked at Sophia.
The recovery address belonged to her.
“You changed the security account?”
Sophia swallowed.
“I was helping with the house.”
“When?”
She didn't answer.
Michael's anger began returning.
But this time it wasn't directed at Emily.
Then Mason said something from behind them.
“Dad?”
Michael turned.
Mason was holding a small memory card.
“I took this out before Aunt Sophia came upstairs.”
Sophia's eyes widened.
“Give me that.”
She moved toward him.
Emily immediately stepped between them.
May you like
“No.”
For the first time that afternoon, Sophia looked genuinely terrified.
