Chapter 8
Victoria tried to enter the waiting room before the police did.
That told me more than any confession could have.
Her voice came through the door.
“Claire, open this immediately.”
Leo shrank against me.
Paul stepped closer to the door.
“Mrs. Morgan, wait outside.”
“You have no right to keep me from my grandson.”
I looked at Leo.
He shook his head.
I said clearly, “Leo does not want to see you.”
Silence.
Then Victoria’s voice turned cold.
“He is a child. He does not know what he wants.”
Leo whispered, “I do.”
I repeated it louder.
“He does.”
The police arrived a moment later.
Two officers entered the hallway, then the waiting room.
I handed over the phone only after explaining that it belonged to my late husband and contained a recording naming Victoria.
The officer placed it in an evidence bag but did not seal it until I confirmed Leo’s fingerprints were expected on it.
Every detail mattered now.
Victoria stood in the hall with Beatrice behind her.
Her pearls sat perfectly at her throat.
Her face did not.
One officer asked her to remain available for questions.
She laughed.
“I am the grieving mother.”
The officer said, “We understand.”
But he did not move away.
That was when Victoria looked at me with pure hatred.
Not sorrow.
Hatred.
I had seen dislike from her for years.
Contempt.
Possession.
Control.
But hatred was different.
Hatred meant the mask had slipped because the room no longer obeyed.
The officer asked if I wanted to make a statement.
I looked at Leo.
He looked exhausted.
Too old and too young at the same time.
“Not here,” I said.
“Not in front of my son.”
The officer nodded.
Victoria snapped, “How convenient.”
Paul turned toward her.
“Enough.”
One word.
A soldier’s word.
The hallway went quiet.
Beatrice touched Victoria’s arm.
Victoria pulled away.
The phone sat in the officer’s hand, sealed now.
Thomas’s recording had begun in the chapel but had not finished.
That was somehow worse.
May you like
Because everyone had heard enough to fear the rest.
Read the full story 👉 Police took possession of Thomas’s phone, but the full recording remained unheard as Victoria’s panic grew.
