Chapter 2 - The Underwater Recording
The afternoon sun blazed overhead, but the air on the patio felt utterly frozen. Miranda sat paralyzed on the plush outdoor sofa, her manicured fingers pressed against her stinging, red cheek. Her dark eyes were wide with a sudden, clawing panic that she couldn't hide.
"Everett, don't listen to that useless servant!" Miranda spat out, her voice rising in pitch as she tried to scramble up from the cushions. "She's lying! She's trying to cover up her own incompetence because she let Daisy wander near the freezer!"
Everett didn't even look at his wife. His focus was entirely on Tessa, whose wet hand lifted the clear waterproof pouch from her pocket. Inside the heavy-duty plastic sat a small, high-definition digital audio recorder, its red standby light still blinking steadily.
"When I heard Mrs. Vance and Mr. Bryce discussing Daisy's trust fund in the cabana an hour ago, I felt something was wrong," Tessa explained, her voice gaining strength as she handed the pouch to Everett. "I turned on my dictation recorder before I stepped out onto the deck. It caught everything."
Everett unsealed the waterproof pouch with steady hands, pulled out the compact recording device, and pressed the play button.
The small speaker crackled for a second before Miranda's distinct, cold voice vibrated loudly through the quiet patio:
”—he’s never going to sign over the estate’s primary guardianship rights while the girl is healthy, Bryce! If Daisy suffers a severe medical emergency—hypothermia, brain damage from oxygen deprivation—the court will rule Everett unfit for failing to secure the estate, and I will be named legal conservator of the Vance Trust!”
Then, Bryce’s arrogant laugh came through the speaker crystal clear: ”Just lock the kid in the beverage freezer for twenty minutes. It’s insulated, so no one will hear her scream. By the time Everett comes back from his meeting, the kid will be in an ICU, and we’ll have full control of the $50 million account.”
The recording continued, capturing the sound of Daisy’s terrified shrieks, the heavy metallic thud of the freezer door latch snapping shut, and Tessa’s frantic shouts as she tried to intervene—followed by the heavy splash of Tessa being thrown into the deep end of the pool by Bryce.
Everett stood motionless as the audio finished playing. The silence that followed was suffocating.
Over by the collapsed towel rack, Bryce was groaning on his hands and knees, trying to push himself up from the stone deck. Everett turned slowly, his grey suit coat shifting over his broad shoulders, his eyes turning darker than a midnight storm.
"Fifty million dollars..." Everett murmured, his voice so quiet it sent a shudder down Tessa's spine. "You tried to freeze my three-year-old daughter to death for fifty million dollars."
"Everett, listen to me!" Miranda pleaded, her voice breaking into hysterical sobs as she dropped to her knees on the stone floor, reaching out to grab the hem of his trousers. "Bryce forced me into it! He threatened to expose my old debts! He manipulated me! I love Daisy! I'm your wife!"
Everett kicked his leg back, ripping his pants away from her trembling grasp with disgust. "You are nothing to me."
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Everett reached into his suit jacket, pulled out his encrypted smartphone, and speed-dialed a three-digit number.
"Chief Miller," Everett spoke into the receiver, his tone as hard as diamond. "Send four units to the Vance estate immediately. I have a recorded attempted murder and corporate conspiracy in progress. And tell the District Attorney to get a judge on the line. I want full restraint orders executed within the hour."
