Chapter 2 - The Antique Clock
The antique clock had belonged to Adrian’s grandfather.
At least, that was what Beatrice told guests.
She said it with reverence, as if wood and brass could prove bloodlines better than love ever could. It stood near the marble fireplace, polished, heavy, old-fashioned, perfectly placed to watch the entire dining room.
Nobody knew Claire had changed its purpose.
Not completely.
The concealed camera inside the clock had been installed after the first time Beatrice “accidentally” served Claire something she had been warned not to eat.
Claire had told no one but Adrian.
Even then, Adrian had not wanted to believe his mother capable of it.
He had believed cruelty, yes.
Manipulation, certainly.
But not this.
Not a dinner table turned into a trap.
Now the security screen glowed against the wall, freezing Beatrice in monochrome with a hidden jar in one hand and her jeweled serving spoon near Claire’s plate.
No labels were readable.
No substance was visible.
No full recording played.
Still, the room understood enough to become afraid.
One trustee dropped his wineglass.
Another covered her mouth.
A third pushed his chair back so violently the legs screamed across the floor.
Beatrice lunged toward the screen.
Adrian blocked her with one hard step.
“Don’t,” he said, though the word was more growl than speech.
Claire leaned against him, still breathing shallowly, injector clenched in one hand and smartphone in the other.
Her body trembled from the reaction, but her eyes stayed locked on Beatrice.
The woman who had smiled while she gasped now looked smaller beneath the chandelier.
Not weak.
Exposed.
Beatrice’s mouth opened and closed.
“She edited that.”
Claire’s lips moved into something that was almost a smile.
“I haven’t played it.”
That silenced the table.
Because the paused image alone had broken Beatrice’s defense.
If she claimed it was edited before anyone saw the rest, then she admitted there was something to fear.
Adrian looked at his mother.
His face had gone pale beneath the rage.
“Why were you near her plate?”
Beatrice looked at the trustees.
Then at Claire’s stomach.
Then at the screen.
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For the first time in her life, she had no graceful answer.
Read Chapter 3 👉 Because Beatrice tried to call the evidence false before anyone saw it, and that panic told Adrian the truth had only begun.
