Chapter 5 - The Game of Hide-and-Seek
“She was yelling on that black phone,” Lily continued, her small voice echoing in the silent, tense foyer.
Lily explained that while Victoria was screaming at someone on the burner phone about "getting rid of the brat," a caterer had knocked on the dressing room door. Victoria had hastily shoved the phone and the sapphire ring into her makeup drawer and stepped out into the hallway to yell at the staff.
“I knew the blue ring was Mommy’s,” Lily whispered, looking up at Daniel with her big expressive eyes. “You showed me pictures of it. So I climbed out, put it in my purse, and ran away to find you. I didn't want the mean lady to keep Mommy's ring.”
The silence in the mansion was absolute, heavy, and lethal.
Daniel stared at Victoria. The pieces of the apocalyptic puzzle were violently snapping together in his mind.
Victoria didn't just stumble upon the stolen jewelry. The only way she could possess Sarah’s missing sapphire ring was if she had been at the crash site the night Sarah died. Or worse—if she had orchestrated the crash herself.
“Daniel, please!” Victoria wept hysterically, tears ruining her perfect bridal makeup. “The child is lying! She’s a thief! She stole that ring from my jewelry box! I bought it at an antique auction last month, I swear to God!”
Daniel didn't yell. The terrifying, quiet executioner within him awakened.
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He didn't look at the ring anymore. He reached into the pink floral handbag and pulled out the cheap black burner phone.
👉 Daniel pressed the power button on the burner phone, and the digital evidence was about to destroy the bride's entire existence.
