Chapter 2
here.”
Margaret spoke next.
“By tomorrow, every reporter who matters will know she had some kind of breakdown.
We will be the concerned family who tried to help her.”
Brandon laughed.
“And if her mother complains, remind her that uniforms do not impress judges.”
The recording ended with a crash, Emily crying out, and hurried footsteps.
Ethan looked toward the door.
Detective Brooks noticed.
“Do not leave.”
“I need to call my attorney.”
“You may call from where I can see you.”
Margaret reached into her handbag.
“I am calling someone at the governor’s office.”
The detective’s expression hardened.
“You are free to call counsel.
Any attempt to use a public official to interfere with an active investigation will be documented.”
Margaret slowly lowered the phone.
A woman in a navy suit entered the room carrying another folder.
She introduced herself as Dana Lee, the hospital’s patient advocate.
With Emily’s permission, she confirmed that the medical team had documented injuries consistent with forceful restraint and a fall.
The torn dress and other personal items had been sealed according to hospital procedure.
Margaret’s eyes moved from the advocate to the detective and finally to Victoria.
“You arranged all of this before you arrived.”
Victoria met her gaze.
“I arranged for my daughter to be protected.
You arranged a lie.”
That was when Ethan made his worst mistake.
He lunged toward the bedside table and reached for Victoria’s phone.
The security officer caught his arm before he touched it.
Ethan twisted, cursed, and demanded to be released.
In the struggle, the cream-colored envelope Margaret had placed on the blanket fell to the floor.
The false statement slid into view.
Detective Brooks picked it up with gloved fingers and read the first paragraph.
“Who prepared this?”
No one answered.
The document claimed Emily had experienced a voluntary mental health crisis and had injured herself while resisting assistance.
It included a promise that she would make no public accusations against the Prescott family.
At the bottom was a signature line and a payment clause covering medical bills in exchange for confidentiality.
“You brought this before she had completed her examination,” Dana Lee said.
Margaret’s voice became brittle.
“It was a compassionate offer.”
“It was a statement describing events that had not been medically evaluated,” Detective Brooks replied.
“And you pressured an injured patient to sign it while the people she accused were standing over her.”
Brandon stepped in front of his mother.
“This conversation is finished.”
“No,” Emily said.
“It is finally beginning.”
She asked Victoria to open the black folder.
Inside were printed screenshots of messages Ethan had sent during the previous six months.
Some demanded Emily’s location.
Others threatened to cancel her cards or contact her employer if she attended events without him.
One message from Margaret instructed Ethan to keep Emily away from friends who encouraged independence.
Another from Brandon suggested hiring a private investigator to collect material that could be used against her in a divorce.
Emily had forwarded the messages to her mother weeks earlier but had asked Victoria not to intervene.
She had still hoped Ethan would agree to counseling.
Victoria had honored that request while preserving every message.
Ethan stared at the pages.
“You have been spying on me.”
May you like
“No,” Emily said.
“I have been surviving you.”
