Chapter 4
Andrew drove straight home.
Sophia wasn't there.
The house felt unnaturally quiet.
He walked into his home office and opened the security system.
Only exterior cameras.
Nothing inside.
He frowned.
Then remembered.
The previous owner had installed a smart-home system.
Including indoor cameras.
Sophia had insisted they remove them after moving in.
"They invade privacy."
At the time...
He had agreed.
Suddenly something bothered him.
He called the security company.
"I'm Andrew Salgado."
"I need to know when my indoor cameras were disconnected."
The technician paused.
"They weren't disconnected, sir."
Andrew froze.
"What?"
"They're still active."
"They were simply removed from your administrator account."
His blood ran cold.
"Who has access?"
Another pause.
"Your wife."
Within an hour the technician restored Andrew's permissions.
The archived footage began loading.
Hundreds of hours.
Most were ordinary.
Breakfast.
Homework.
Television.
Then...
A recording from six weeks earlier.
Sophia stood in the kitchen.
Valerie accidentally spilled a glass of milk.
Sophia smiled.
Not kindly.
Coldly.
"Go upstairs."
The next camera activated.
Valerie's bedroom.
Sophia entered holding the wooden ruler.
Andrew couldn't watch.
But he forced himself to.
Every lie.
Every punishment.
Every threat.
Every meal taken away.
Every warning never to tell Daddy.
The final clip ended with Sophia kneeling beside Valerie.
"If your father finds out..."
"...he'll send you away."
Valerie nodded through tears.
"I won't tell."
Andrew slammed the laptop shut.
Then quietly called his attorney.
"No."
May you like
He corrected himself.
"Call the police first."
