Chapter 8 - ONE DEVICE, THREE SIGNATURES
The account records included electronic-signature metadata.
Most people never look at it.
I did.
Device identifier.
IP address.
Browser version.
Time stamp.
The custodian agreement supposedly signed by Diane came from the same device used for my fake media consent.
Vanessa’s tablet.
I checked a third document.
A withdrawal authorization transferring $12,000 from Lily’s earnings account to Northline.
Same device.
Different signer.
Olivia Mercer.
Three people.
Three signatures.
One tablet.
I photographed everything.
Then I called Diane again.
“Do you still have the papers Vanessa showed you?”
“Some.”
“Don’t destroy anything.”
“I wouldn’t.”
“Don’t give them to Vanessa either.”
“I won’t.”
“Or Olivia.”
Diane went quiet.
“Mom.”
“She called me.”
“When?”
“While I was watching the livestream.”
“What did she want?”
“To know whether you had the tablet.”
My stomach tightened.
“How would she know I found it?”
“She said Vanessa told her.”
Vanessa had already reached Olivia.
That meant they were coordinating.
“Did you tell Olivia I have it?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Then a knock sounded downstairs.
Three hard knocks.
Lily jumped.
I checked the camera beside the front door from my phone.
Vanessa.
Her hair was uneven from the clippers.
She held nothing.
I didn’t open the door.
“What do you want?”
Her voice came through the camera speaker.
“My tablet.”
“No.”
“It belongs to me.”
“It contains videos of my daughter being abused.”
“I didn’t abuse her.”
“You cut her until she bled.”
“She moved.”
“You coached her to lie.”
Vanessa looked straight into the camera.
“You hit me.”
“Yes.”
“And shaved my hair.”
“Yes.”
“You’re admitting that?”
“Yes.”
Her expression changed.
I wasn’t giving her the denial she wanted.
“I did something wrong after seeing what you did to Lily. That doesn’t erase what you did.”
She stepped closer to the door.
“You’re going to destroy your life.”
“Maybe.”
“And Lily’s.”
That stopped me.
“What does that mean?”
“You think Northline is the only copy of those videos?”
My pulse quickened.
“What did you do?”
“Open the door.”
“No.”
“I can explain.”
“Explain through the camera.”
She looked toward the street.
Nervous.
“I didn’t start the yellow-hat idea.”
“Who did?”
Silence.
“Olivia?”
Vanessa’s eyes shifted.
That was answer enough.
“How long has Olivia been involved?”
“She runs Northline.”
“I know.”
“No. You don’t.”
“What don’t I know?”
Vanessa lowered her voice.
“Northline doesn’t make money from public streams.”
I frowned.
“The donations—”
“Those are nothing.”
“What makes the money?”
“Private requests.”
The words landed badly.
I immediately thought of the worst possibilities.
Vanessa saw my face.
“Not like that.”
“Then explain.”
“People pay to choose scenarios.”
My stomach turned.
“What scenarios?”
“Embarrassment. Messes. Taking things away. Cutting hair. Ruining prizes.”
“You let strangers purchase punishments for my daughter.”
“I didn’t know it would go this far.”
“You held the scissors.”
Her eyes filled.
“For God’s sake, Daniel, I know.”
“Then why keep doing it?”
“Because I owed money.”
“To Olivia?”
Vanessa didn’t answer.
“How much?”
“More than I could pay.”
“What kind of debt?”
“Northline advanced me money.”
“For what?”
“My apartment. Credit cards. Everything.”
“So you paid it back with Lily.”
Vanessa flinched.
I wanted that sentence to hurt.
It did.
Then she looked behind her.
A car had slowed near the house.
Dark SUV.
Tinted windows.
Vanessa turned pale.
“Daniel.”
“What?”
“If Olivia comes here, do not give her that tablet.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
The SUV continued past.
Vanessa exhaled.
Then she whispered something that changed the shape of the entire case.
“Your copy isn’t the important one.”
“What copy is?”
“The administrator archive.”
“Where?”
“I don’t have access anymore.”
“Who does?”
She looked directly into the camera.
“Olivia.”
“And?”
Vanessa swallowed.
“Your mother.”
I stared at her.
“Diane?”
“She has administrator access.”
“She told me she didn’t know.”
“She may not know what the account can see.”
“What does that mean?”
“Olivia set it up on her computer.”
My thoughts moved quickly.
Diane’s computer.
Administrator credentials.
Possibly the only surviving master archive.
Then Vanessa said, “If Olivia realizes you know that, she’ll wipe everything.”
My phone buzzed.
A message from Diane.
Daniel, my computer just restarted by itself.
Then another.
May you like
All my folders are disappearing.
📖 See what Olivia was trying to erase remotely from Diane’s computer—and why one hidden administrator folder contained far more than Lily’s four yellow-hat videos in CHAPTER 9. 👇
